


Among My Stillness Was A Pounding Heart

by kayura_sanada



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullying, Conditioning, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, First Love, Friendship/Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Redemption, Roxas and Ventus (Kingdom Hearts) are Siblings, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-14 23:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18062159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayura_sanada/pseuds/kayura_sanada
Summary: Ventus has entered high school, and he now faces the trials that all students face. Class, bullies, and a crush on someone close to him. These problems, however, may end up seeming small in comparison to the one rather unusual issue looming before him - one that has to do with the past he doesn't remember.Written for the wonderful makesuretheyseemyface.





	1. A Completely Normal, Average, Not Even Remotely Special Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [makesuretheyseemyface](https://archiveofourown.org/users/makesuretheyseemyface/gifts).



“Get the hell out of our house.”

Ven sneaked to the edge of the hall. The lights were on. Mom and Dad were usually awake late these days. He hadn’t meant to wake up and overhear, but how could he not want to look when he saw three shadows in the lobby instead of two? Who would come over to visit this late at night?

“That’s quite rude.” An older voice. Ven tilted his head. What was that person doing here so late? “You’re terrible to guests.”

“Get the hell out or we’re calling the cops.”

His parents were angry. He inched a bit closer. The light from the lobby cast him in shadow, at least for now. If he stayed quiet, he should be safe.

“So violent. There’s no need. I came only to discuss your allegations against me.”

“Talk to our lawyer.”

Ven dared peek around the corner. His parents stood facing the door, caging the man in before he even fully entered the house. No one had noticed him yet.

“Oh, I have. As have _my_ lawyers. Do you really think you’re going to win this?”

“You’ll pay for what you’ve done to these children. Now get out.” Dad swept his hand out, nearly clipping the guest on the nose. “Honey, get the phone.”

His mom raced off toward the couch in the living room. Ven’s dad got into the other man’s face. “You’re going to wish you’d never met our kids.”

The other man just smiled. “Of course.” Then, suddenly, his gaze turned to stare directly into Ven’s eyes. “Ah. Here’s the true interloper.”

“What?” Ven’s dad looked, as well. He jumped at the sight of Ven before him. “Ven! Quick, go back to bed.”

“That’s right.” The old man smiled, and Ven found he couldn’t look away. His heart slowed. His breath stilled in his chest. “Hide al͚̯̫͢o̖̮̩͜ṉ̢̣̫ȩ̳͎̥̱ a̮͕̟̝͜n̡͍̭͖d̟̮͈͓͕̮̮͚̩̖̯̖͢ f̢̥̤͈̙̠̖̜̣ͅo̡͚̯̫̳̳̦̱̯̣͔̝ͅr̨͍̮̰̮g͍̖͕͙͜ȩ͍̠͉͕̙̗͍̰ṱ̨̦̩̩͎̩̳̝͍̜͖.̧̤̣̟͙̱͖̜̠ͅ M̬̳͕̭̩̞̗̪̫̲̳̲͂͆̍̑͗̏ȧ̭̣͔͚̐̉̅̇̍͊̀ͅy̱̫̪̩̮̬͉͔͉͐̎̓̾͋̃̌̾́̄̌b̫͇̫͙̠̖̥͕̰̄͗̆̒̒e͇̮̣͇͚͖͉̭̮͆̂͗̈͂̀̅̾͊ t͚̲͇̩͖̤̫̫́̋̄̾͋̊͑h͔̬̳͍̯̜̙̮̠̘̠̠̊͌͗e̯̜̗̬͊̓̍͒͆̊͋͆͊̽͐n̲͖̝͖̊̒̈̅͆̌͋̿ ÿ͈̮̖͍̥͈̰̅̂͂ö̭͇̞͍̫͈̜̪͍̯͆̂̒̄͑́͛̿̌ṷ̦̰̞͔̩̄͂͋̎͊̅'͓͉̪͙͓͕̭̗̱̬͚̫̇̿́̍͊̚l͔̱̖̮͎̱̗̜͙̘̽͛̈́̋̆͛͆ͅl̞͚̙͈̯̓̊̾ͅ b͔͈̠͔͔̭̰̳̫̯̉̄̉̋̄͋̈̽ė͔̘̜̪͍͈̩̝̗̄͐̊̎̒̒͆ͅ f̜͖͖͈͓̙͈̥͛̿͑͗o͍̪͈̯͙͒̽̓͂̅ͅȑ̩̩̖͖͇̙͍̘̗̿̐́̋͂̌̓̈́͊̽g̮͈͇͉̤͕̱̮̲͙̬̓̑̄̎̈́̽i͚̜̪̘̒͊͋̓̈́̿̏v͔͕̮͉͎̬̖̪̤̏̂̊ḙ̲͚̣͙͕͍̓̎̎̄́͊͊̈́̽̽͛̋n̯̘̙͕̦̖͈̣̣͚̝̾͂͗̎ͅ.̣̜̝̠̌̆̄͑͋̂̃̃̐̈͛

Ven’s eyes snapped open.

His head throbbed. He grabbed it as he sat up, causing it to pound harder, in time with every unsteady, staccato beat of his pulse. His breath stuttered in gasps. His hands shook. Sweat cooled on his neck. He blinked and looked around. Had a bright light woken him up? He thought he could still see it behind his eyelids.

He lay back down. Whatever had woken him, it was gone now. He closed his eyes and waited for his heart rate to steady, then blew out a deep breath. This time when he fell asleep, nothing woke him.

* * *

Ven adjusted his collar one more time, only to frown. He had no idea how Terra and Aqua managed to look so done up with just the school uniform. Maybe their couple of years’ extra practice was what had given them the skill. He stared down at the tie around his neck. Terra always looked so sophisticated, his hair pulled back and cheekbones all… out there. He flushed. He, on the other hand, looked like a kid playing dress-up. The sleeves of the shirt were a little too long, the vest hung loose around his chest and waist, and the pants needed to be rolled up a couple of times to keep from dragging on the floor.

He covered his face with his hands and huffed. It was time to just _go_.

He grabbed his bookbag and made for the door, only to look behind him. A single, hard-backed chair, hardwood floors, and a tiny TV set, all sitting lonely. He hadn’t turned the TV on for days because of his ever-accruing piles of homework, and a layer of dust had settled over the monitor. The back of the TV faced the kitchen, the countertops still clean from his efforts two nights before. He hadn’t had time to cook properly, either. Aqua was gonna be mad.

He opened the door. One good thing about school was getting away from the house.

The building stood just over four blocks from his house, an old, white stone structure that stood three stories tall, one for each grade. Ven had known the building well before he’d ever stepped though its doors; he’d stood in front of that walled gate waiting for his friends to get off from school so that he could go home with them. Aqua and Terra. He saw them now, waiting in front of the gate for him. They called out to him and waved as he approached.

He grinned.

“Good morning, Ven,” Aqua said as he neared. She leaned off of the wall and fixed some unknown aberration in his hair.

“Morning, Aqua,” he said, and let her try futilely to tame his wild hair. He turned his gaze to Terra. “Morning, Terra.”

Terra smiled down at him. Ven’s heart did a double-jump. “Good morning, Ven.” He reached out and tussled Ven’s hair, ruining Aqua’s efforts. The young woman huffed at him. It made Terra grin. Forget the double-jump; Ven’s heart started leapfrogging into his throat. “How was your day yesterday? You didn’t come home with us again.”

He blushed. Quickly, he scanned the horizon. They had enough time to talk; he’d raced the four blocks between him and the school, trying to get away from his empty house. “I had a lot of homework, so I thought I should study a little.”

“Well, good for you,” Aqua said. Ven looked back in time to see her nudge Terra. “Your schooling is important.”

“But if you ever need help, you know we’re here, right?” Terra asked. Ven nodded mutely. Terra messed up Ven’s hair again. His hand was warm. Four years, and this was the one thing that he recognized instinctively: the touch of Terra’s hand. His heart nearly spat itself up from his chest.

“Come on,” Aqua said. “Let’s get to class.”

It was early. Ven didn’t want to go in yet. Aqua and Terra were heading inside, however, so there was nothing else to do. He walked in, as well.

School was always the site of pure chaos in the mornings; students gathered to speak with one another about their afternoons, the games they’d played, the homework they’d struggled with, their family squabbles. Ven had grown accustomed to it all, but it was Terra and Aqua who had mastered the hallways. They said hello to everyone as they stopped by Ven’s locker to change out his shoes, then by their own. Two girls came up to Aqua to ask her how her day had been, pulling her slightly off to the side. That left Ven alone with Terra.

He took several deep breaths.

“Are you all right, Ven?”

Ven nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to Terra. He was finishing putting his school shoes on. Ven leaned down to pick up his travel shoes, handing them to Terra once he was ready. Terra closed his locker and waited for Ven’s reply. “Yes?” he squeaked. His eyes widened. That had not just happened.

Terra tilted his head. His smile dimmed a bit. “Ven. You know you can tell me anything?”

Ven nodded twice as hard as a normal human. He wanted to pound his head against the lockers. “Uh-huh.” No. Try that again. “I know, Terra.” There. Good. “I’m just a little tired.”

Those lips slipped straight into a frown. “You don’t need to push yourself so hard, Ven. You’ll get there, just like us.” Terra placed his hand on Ven’s shoulder. Ah. That familiar warmth again. “There’s no need to rush.”

Oh. Ven smiled. “I’m not.” He reached up to touch Terra’s hand.

“Ven! Terra! Come on!”

Ven nearly launched himself into Terra’s chin. He snapped his hand back down to his side, his face suddenly tomato red. Terra chuckled. “Aqua is _insane_ about getting to class on time.”

He chuckled, too. It sounded like he’d choked a cat. “Yeah.”

They both headed down the hall, chasing Aqua’s heels.

He had to say goodbye to them as they reached the stairs. Terra and Aqua would be heading up, literally as well as figuratively, while he stayed on the ground floor. They were only a few of those already making for their classrooms; the bulk of conversations were continuing behind them, as students gathered together in chunks in the front of the school, trying to hold off from going to class until necessary. Not Aqua, though. She was one of those who had everything out and ready before any other student so much as entered the room. He guessed that was setting an example, though, as president of the student council.

Both Terra and Aqua hesitated at the door. They turned to Ven. “Have a nice day at school, Ven,” Aqua said.

“Come home with us?” Terra asked. “If you’re still having trouble, we’ll help you. It’s not a burden.”

Ven smiled. Terra looked almost worried. “I will,” he decided. No matter what, he would this time. Today would be different. Terra reached out and ruffled his hair again, his hand lingering for a moment longer than usual before he pulled it back. Ven wanted to lean forward, chase after it. He cleared his throat. “I’ll see you guys after school.”

He backed away, one step at a time, before he made a complete wreck of himself and chased after them like it was his first day. Two months into the new school year, and he was still acting like a new kid. He took a deep breath. At least he was in the same school as them, he told himself for the hundredth time. It could be worse. He could be all alone again.

He headed down the hall to his classroom, past the music rooms and the art rooms. Terra and Aqua would be heading up the stairs, moving past the science labs to their own rooms, Aqua in the first class, Terra in the second. Unlike Ven, they would share lunch together.

Ven looked at his classroom – Class 1-B. He took another few deep breaths before stepping inside. They all left him in a whoosh of relief.

The classroom was empty. For now.

He sat in his seat and looked at the board. Whoever had been in charge of readying the classroom had left, likely to meet up with their friends before class began. He sighed again and placed his bookbag on top of the desk. Homework first, then books, carefully on top of the homework to ensure it didn’t get grabbed up and ripped before class began. Pencils left inside the bookbag so that they couldn’t be broken or used as weapons against him. Bookbag placed back down on the floor, sandwiched between his legs so it couldn’t be taken or rifled through. Arms crossed over books on top of the desk to keep them from being swept to the floor.

There. He was ready.

Students started meandering in. A few looked at him, but none said hello. They knew the law of the land. He didn’t mind. He’d be scared to speak with himself if he was in their shoes.

It was only a few moments before class began that he walked in, hand in pockets, shoulders slouched as he kicked the door open. Ven watched him as he sauntered into the room. Those bright yellow eyes caught on Ven. He grinned. “Why, hi there, Ventious,” Vanitas said, deliberately drawling Ventus’ name out into something unrecognizable. He sidled over beside Ven’s desk and leaned down. Ven tried to keep his back straight. There wasn’t enough time for Vanitas to do anything to him. “You got out of bed in time again this morning. Congratulations!” Ven pressed his lips together to keep from grimacing. “Did you have a nice Pop-Tart breakfast this morning?”

Ven didn’t bother reminding Vanitas that he, too, didn’t have a mother to cook for him. That wasn’t the point of this, and they both knew it. “Good morning, Vanitas,” he said.

“‘Good morning, Vanitas,’” Vanitas parroted, his voice lifting a full octave. The man kicked his desk. Ven gripped his books tight. “No one around to teach you how to be a man, either.”

Ven’s fingers trembled. His lips firmed. He thought of Terra, of how the older teen had reached out for him, trying to take Ven’s worries away. He opened his mouth to argue, to say he knew _exactly_ what being a man was all about, when the teacher walked in. “Everyone in their seats,” the professor said, not even bothering to look up yet from the papers in his hands. He placed them down and looked around. “You,” he said, pointing to Vanitas. “Sit. Now.”

Vanitas made a face, but he did as ordered, if with more showmanship than required. Vanitas crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. The professor, however, didn’t care in the slightest. He just waited through the class representative’s orders to stand and bow, then waved them all back into their seats. “Yes, yes. Did all of you finish your assignments?” The teacher looked around, pulling that weird move of his where one eye looked outlandishly larger than the other. “Well, if not, prepare to suffer. Hand in your completed assignments to your class rep.” Already, Ven was doing so, lifting his science classwork from beneath his books and passing it along to the front. Ienzo, sitting straight and tall in the middle of the class, reached out to accept the pages offered. Vanitas, Ven noted, didn’t hand anything in.

Oh, well. It wasn’t his problem. He had enough of those already. He straightened in his seat and paid attention to the teacher. When Vanitas sent a dark glare his way, he pretended he didn’t notice.

* * *

Something was wrong with Ven.

He wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Aqua kept sending long glances behind them as they made their way up the stairs, her bookbag swinging slightly by her side as they ascended.

He didn’t know what to do. Whatever was troubling Ven, he wasn’t talking about it. The urge to demand answers itched just beneath the skin. Just a few days ago, Ven had been all smiles all the time. The usual ray of light that left Terra staring, nearly blinded. Now there were shadows around him. Clouds. Terra stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at Aqua. “What do we do?”

His question stopped her. She paused beside him and looked away. “You know he wants to prove he can take care of himself,” she said, repeating something that, yes, he already knew. “Just like when he moved out and became a ward of the state. He doesn’t want to be a burden.”

“He’s _not.”_ But Terra didn’t know how to make Ven see that. As bright as Ven’s smile was, Terra knew how dim that light could get. How dim it had once been, the day he’d been brought to their home.

“Well, we’ll just have to show him that, won’t we?”

He turned to see Aqua smiling at him. He returned the gesture. Yes, that was what they’d decided all those years ago, when Ven had asked Master Eraqus to let him become a ward. They’d freaked out, told Ven he was part of their family, asked the master to let Ven stay. Only for the master to tell them that it was something Ventus needed them to let him do. _“Support him,”_ the master had said. _“He_ _needs to know you care for him whether_ _you’re_ _bound by legal ties or not. Then, perhaps, he will return to us_ _.”_

“Right,” he said. Support Ven. That was all he wanted to do. If he could only make sure that smile always shown brightly, then every effort would be worth it.

But, he thought as they made their ways to their separate classrooms, despite how Ven had seemed to brighten up, this descent felt too much like those days when Ven had chosen to move out. He’d been happy to stop by their home almost every day, to eat with them and talk with them and even to sleep with them, cocooned between him and Aqua and then, when a bit older, with him or alone on Terra’s bed. Terra had thought they’d been making headway.

So what was making Ven pull away yet again? What had made him return to those days when he’d hidden himself away from them?

* * *

Ven lost a hold of his bookbag, nearly ripping the handle off before deciding it wasn’t worth it. Vanitas smirked as he held the thing up, shaking it. “The rest of your homework in here? Mind if I take a look?”

“Yes,” Ven said, instantly regretting it.

The smirk widened. One long, black eyebrow raised high. “Oh, really?” Vanitas slammed the bookbag into the wall. Several students hurried past, ducking low to avoid looking either Ven or Vanitas in the eye. “Something you’re hiding, baby Ven? A picture of your dead parents, maybe?”

Ven sucked in a breath.

“No mommy to come help.” Vanitas made a show of looking around, taking in the lunch break crowd moving to the cafeteria. “No friends, either.” That grin turned into something downright wicked. He fingered the zipper to Ven’s pack and slowly opened it up. The way he was holding the thing, everything inside would come tumbling out. “Nobody to care.”

“I do have friends,” Ven said, then realized he was walking right into Vanitas’ trap. He clamped his lips shut. Too late.

Vanitas ripped the bag open, nearly tearing the zipper from its teeth. Ven’s belongings spilled like waste to the floor. Ven distinctly heard at least one pencil snap. “Where are they?” he asked. Ven didn’t answer, and Vanitas laughed. “Friends? Who would want to be friends with you?”

Ven kept silent. He looked down at his things, but he didn’t bother trying to pick them up. Not yet. Wait until Vanitas was done, then get them. That had been taught to him by experience.

Vanitas tossed Ven’s bag down the hall. It skittered for a moment before thudding lightly against someone’s feet. While that person took care to step over it, the next few people, unaware of the bag’s origins, did not. Ven winced.

“Well? I don’t see anyone.” Vanitas spread his arms out. “Sounds like bullshit to me.”

“My friends don’t need to show up for me to know they’re there.” Ven lifted his chin. Vanitas’ grin disappeared. Ven gulped, but took that first step forward. “They’re with me. They’re my strength.”

Unsurprisingly, that ended about as well as every other time he’d dared stand up to Vanitas. Vanitas stomped forward, crushing Ven’s papers beneath his boots. Another pencil snapped. Vanitas reached for Ven’s neck. He stumbled back, only to have his vest caught in Vanitas’ grip. He lifted high. Ven had to lean onto his tip-toes to keep his vest from tearing at the seams. “What strength?” He reared his fist back.

“What’s going on here?”

Their class representative pushed through the crowd. Vanitas tsked. He lowered his fist. “See?” He smiled. “You have no strength and no friends. No class rep, no protection.” Vanitas dropped him. While Ven struggled for balance, Vanitas twisted his foot, crumpling Ven’s papers until they ripped. Vanitas smirked at the look the tearing sounds evoked on Ven’s face. “See you later, Venny.”

Ven breathed hard. Ienzo came up beside him. The few students still meandering in the halls made way. “Ven?”

Ven shivered. With trembling hands, he reached down for his things. His English homework had been torn. He would have to spend lunch rewriting it. “Thanks,” he mumbled, and grabbed everything he could. He looked around for his bookbag. It had been kicked down the opposite end of the hall. Even from this distance, he could see the footprints all over it. His heart sank. He wouldn’t have time to clean it and redo his homework. The marks would remain.

Ienzo walked over to the bookbag and picked it up. A couple other students, now that Vanitas was gone, bent down to help him pick up his things. One, a petite girl, even sat on the floor and pulled out a sharpener. She slowly fixed his pencils, one by one. Ven tried to thank them all, too, but his throat choked up and he had to be silent or risk letting the tears fall.

He wasn’t going to cry. This was nothing. So his things were destroyed. So what? They were just things. These people were taking time out of their lunches, too, in order to help him. That was something Vanitas couldn’t understand. Something he’d been wrong about.

The girl held out his pencils for him and only smiled when he just nodded and sniffed and took them from her. She pulled her short black hair behind her ear and stood, silently helping order his things into a pile and put them in the bag Ienzo held open. He did the same.

With everything back, Ienzo zipped the thing closed and helped Ventus stand. “I’m going to report him,” he said, lightly slapping Ven’s bookbag in a futile effort to clean it. “Don’t,” he said when Ven opened his mouth to protest. “This isn’t about being weak or strong or some sort of tattletale. It’s about him hurting another person and getting away with it. Though,” he muttered, “who knows if it will work, considering who his guardian is.” Ven shut his mouth. Ienzo smiled despite his last words. Looking at him, Ven could see why he was class rep. He seemed more than smart. His words proved him capable, too. One day, Ven promised himself, he would be like Ienzo. Like Terra. One day, he would be the one calling the bully off of someone else.

One day.

He looked back down at his bookbag as Ienzo handed it back to him. He could see distinct footprints still. He covered them with his hand, then smiled at Ienzo. “All right. I understand. Thanks for everything.”

“It was nothing. I’m glad you’re all right.” Ienzo moved as if to walk Ven to the cafeteria, only to stop when Ven didn’t follow. His brows lowered.

“I was just… on my way to the bathroom,” Ven said, looking down to the floor. There was no sense in telling Ienzo he’d been heading for some food; he hadn’t had time in the morning to fix himself a bento. If he’d gone to Terra’s and Aqua’s place last night, Aqua would have made him one. But if he’d gone, then they would likely have seen how Ven had cradled his shoulder long into the evening, wincing as pain spiked long after Vanitas had let his arm go.

Then again, he realized as Ienzo silently led him to the restroom, the class rep had to have noticed that Ven carried no bento in his case. Which meant he knew better and was simply not calling Ven out on his lie. He stared at his feet, face flushed red. His fingers went white around the strap of his bag.

He went to the restroom, thankfully unsupervised, and then scurried back to the classroom. Several students had already pushed their desks together to sit with each other. Ven was one of the few who sat alone. That was for the best. He had to get his schoolwork done.

He pulled out the tattered remains of his English homework and stared at the ripped pages. Suddenly he felt like crying again.

He had friends. Good friends. Friends who were more like family. One of whom he cared for even more than family allowed. His hands shook as he pulled out one of his newly sharpened pencils, half the length it had once been. He sniffed as quietly as he could and pulled out a new notepad to work on.

Those good friends wouldn’t hesitate to help him. He knew that. It was why he was trying so hard to take care of this on his own. Terra and Aqua had taken him in as family. They’d looked after him when he’d been able to do little more than blink. They’d raised him as much as Master Eraqus, had helped him through his nameless nightmares and held him when he’d felt ready to break apart. The day he’d realized he couldn’t remember his parents, Aqua had held him to her chest and let him cry for hours, and Terra had ushered him to bed, hugging Ven tight ‘to ward off the nightmares before they reached him.’

Every memory he had was one in which they’d grown up, matured, in order to help him. He’d left without much thought as to why, only to realize he hadn’t wanted to burden them any further. He’d hoped that, if he left, they could live their high school lives in peace and happiness. Able to be kids for a little bit.

He also hoped that, by the time they’d gotten that chance, he might have grown strong enough that, just maybe, he might be able to join them again. As a family.

So he had to be strong enough to handle this, too. It was just another part of his promise to himself. He could do it. This was nothing.

He sniffed again. Definitely nothing.

* * *

Classes finally finished for the day. Terra had already put everything away despite the dark glare it had garnered from his teacher. As soon as the bell rang, he stood.

“Terra.”

He turned to the voice, already waving goodbye. “Sorry, Zack. I have someone waiting.”

“Ah!” Zack held out his hand as Terra made his way to the exit, swerving around the rest of the students. “Is it Aqua? Hey! Terra!”

He couldn’t name the reason for his haste. There had been nothing in Ven’s countenance that morning to make it appear like he would renege again. Still, Terra couldn’t help the feeling that Ven was slipping away from him. The feeling chased him down the hall and around the bend to the stairs. He nearly flew down to the first floor, having to apologize to two second-years as they stood speaking side-by-side, nearly taking up the full space of the stairwell.

Aqua would wonder where he’d gone. Then again, she would figure it out. He wasn’t the only one who was worried, after all.

He rocketed out of the stairwell and pushed the door open, parting the sea of students flowing past. One look around told him Ventus wasn’t there yet. He’d wanted to get downstairs before Ven left his classroom. He didn’t know if he’d been that successful, but he could at least hope he’d made it before Ven reached the gate and had to wait for them to show up.

If he waited. If he didn’t hide from them again.

He stopped. The students in the hall were scurrying forward, yes, but their heads were down. A few looked over their shoulders with furrowed brows. One nearly bumped into him, only to mumble an apology and skirt around.

Terra frowned. One scan of the crowd showed him a small wave moving past the lockers near the end of the hall. Near classes 1-B and 1-D.

He had no reason to believe Ven was involved in whatever was going on. Nothing but the rising ache in his chest and the memory of the wide, almost panicked look on Ven’s face when Terra had asked him if he was all right.

Terra pushed through the crowd. At first, no one let him pass; he was headed the opposite direction of the swarm, toward the classrooms instead of away. Then, moments later, a few of the students moved. Maybe it was because he was clearly an upperclassman. Maybe it was because they knew where he was headed and wanted to help him get there. Maybe it was just the look on his face. He didn’t care about the reason, only that it worked.

He could hear a little bit, now that he was getting closer. Shouted words. He strained his ears. “…thought that would help you? Huh? As if anyone would dare going after Xehanort’s ward.” A smaller, calmer voice answered the first. Terra couldn’t hear it over the sound of a sudden burst of laughter just behind him. He thought it must have been a trick of his hearing that he thought it might have sounded like Ven. “Unlike with _you_ , I was taught how to be strong. When he hears about this, he’s going to be _proud_ of me. But _you.”_

It was as if it had been choreographed. Just as Terra got within range of the lockers, the students all shifted to the side, and Terra saw. Ven. Little Ven, held by the collar of his shirt by another freshman, holding his bag slightly behind him as if defending it as the boy used his free arm to slap Ven across the face. Terra let out an aborted sound as black colored the edges of his vision. Ven tripped as the other boy shook him. The boy smirked. He used Ven’s compromised balance to throw him into the lockers. Ven bounced and arched his back – the knobs on the lockers must have dug into his back.

Terra tore through the few students left in his way. Ven’s enemy took only a single step before Terra flew in front of him. He held out a single hand, hiding Ven behind it. The boy stopped short at the sight of him.

The first few words Terra thought were like darkness on his tongue. They burned. He fought them back, only to snap out a deep, “back away. Now,” that nonetheless carried with it the same level of threat. The boy backed away. A few students stopped trying to run away and turned to watch. In mere moments, a small ring had formed around them.

The brat looked over Terra’s shoulder at Ven. Terra didn’t dare look away to check, but he could hear Ven breathing loudly. Terra’s heart thrummed in his chest. “Little Ven needs to ask for help again, huh?” He sneered. Terra bristled.

“He doesn’t have to.” A small murmuring whispered through the crowd. Above it came, suddenly, Aqua’s voice, asking what was going on, her tone carrying all the authority of the student council president. “Ven has friends who will choose to defend him.” He stepped forward. His entire body snapped with the urge to _act._ “Where are yours?”

The boy grimaced. For a wild second, Terra thought the squint of those eyes became one of pain. The boy took another step back. Suddenly he looked short. Small. His lips trembled in a snarl before he turned on his heel and stomped away. The ring made a hasty opening for him to retreat. Through it swerved Aqua, making a beeline for the both of them. “What happened?” she asked.

In answer, Terra turned to Ven and knelt, gently touching Ven’s cheek. It was red and hot to the touch. Ven did not meet his gaze. “…Hey, Terra.”

“Are you all right?” he asked, ignoring the guilty tone of Ven’s voice. He bent Ven’s head just enough to touch the back of it, checking for bumps. He found one. He hissed in sympathy.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Ven said, even though he wasn’t. He _wasn’t_. “I’m sorry.”

Carefully, Terra ruffled Ven’s hair, mindful of the injury. His heart felt like lead in his chest. “Please don’t apologize. I want to help you. You know that.”

Ven nodded. Still, he refused to look at Terra or grant him the sunlight of that smile. “Yeah.”

Aqua came up to stand by both of them, either accidentally or, more likely, deliberately shielding Ven from any spectators’ gazes. “Come on. Let’s get you to the nurse’s station.”

“I’m fine,” Ven repeated, his lip moving into something like a pout.

Aqua opened her mouth to argue. Terra held up one hand, waylaying her, and knelt in front of Ven. He took Ven’s shoulders gently, worried that there were more injuries he couldn’t yet see. How long, he wondered, had this been going on? How much had he not seen? How much pain had he been unable to protect Ven from? “I’m sorry.” The words hadn’t been what Ven had expected; those shoulders jerked beneath Terra’s hands. Finally, Ven looked up at him. Terra met that gaze head-on. “I failed you.”

Ven shook his head, his eyes wide. “No,” he said. Those hands came up to grip his wrists. “No, you didn’t.”

“I did.” He leaned forward, just enough that their words became for them only. Aqua shifted where she stood and made a hissing noise. Scaring the onlookers away, Terra guessed. “I should have noticed. Done something sooner.”

Terra saw red creep up Ven’s neck. “I wanted to take care of it on my own,” he said, his voice small. “It’s not your fault. I didn’t want you to see.”

Terra took a careful breath. They’d told Ven a million times that he didn’t need to shoulder everything himself. That had never worked. It was time Terra put everything down. Instead of telling Ven. _Showing_ him. Just like Aqua said.

He touched Ven’s cheek again. “What you carry,” he said, “I carry, too.” He leaned forward. “Otherwise, what use am I?” He leaned up and kissed Ven’s cheek.

Ven stilled, save for his lips. They opened up enough to let out a high-pitched, inarticulate squeak.

“My strength,” he said, pulling back, daring to let the kiss linger on them both, “has always come from you. From Aqua. From Master Eraqus. You’re what matter enough to make me strong. This?” He traced his thumb along the spot he’d kissed, even hotter now than it had been moments before. “This is proof of my weakness.”

“You’re not weak!” Ven cried, launching forward. Terra’s balance wobbled as Ven wrapped his arms around his neck. Aqua grabbed Terra’s shoulder to steady them. “You’re the strongest person I know!”

“Thanks,” Aqua murmured, but Terra saw her smile.

Terra pulled Ven tight to him. Ven’s shoulders shook. Terra acted like he couldn’t tell. “Me? You shouldered this all on your own, longer than I can imagine.” He curled his face into the crook of Ven’s neck. “You’re so strong, Ven. I’m so proud of you.”

Ven sniffed. His shoulders rose sharply, only to stutter back down. Those little fingers clawed deep into the back of Terra’s shirt. Ven’s cheek felt hot against Terra’s neck. Likely from the bruise. Ven buried his face in Terra’s skin. “I haven’t been able to make him stop.”

“Strength doesn’t mean making others do things,” Terra said. “It means holding yourself to your path, even when others want you to stop.” Ven’s shudders rose, crescendoed, and finally began to calm. “You never stopped being you, Ven. That’s why you’re strong.”

Ven’s sniffles turned a bit watery. Aqua crouched down beside them, patting Ven’s back. “We love you,” she said, the words soft and serene and strong, just as strong as anything Terra had ever heard. “We want to be with you, not just when things are easy, but when they’re hard. Because being with you, the person we love, as much as we can, makes us happy. It’s the same for you, isn’t it?”

After a short moment, Ven nodded against Terra’s shoulder. He still remove his face from Terra’s neck.

She looked into Terra’s eyes and smiled. “Do you want to come home with us? And stay the night?”

Ven nodded again.

They wouldn’t ask for more. Not now, while Ven was so vulnerable. But later. Later, they would ask that Ven complete their family again.

Terra held Ven until he was ready, and then they parted. Aqua took Ven’s bag, which had some marks that could only mean it had taken some damage at some point. They didn’t bring it up. Ven sniffed loudly and rubbed his eyes. They didn’t mention that, either. Instead Terra reached out a single hand, waiting to see if Ven would take it. Ven stared at it for several moments. His face turned red as a ripe apple, but finally, those warm digits wrapped around Terra’s. A small smile played on Ven’s lips.

It was the first ray of light peeking from behind the clouds. Terra felt warmer than he had in days.


	2. Perhaps 'Normal' Was A Bit of An Oversimplification

Terra’s teeth cracked.

They both heard it. There was no way to _not_ hear it. Still, fourteen-year old Terra crunched his way through the food, then swallowed. Twelve-year old Ven’s hands came up as if to stop him. Terra smiled. “It’s better,” he said.

Ven frowned. He lowered his hands to his lap. “You could have been poisoned.”

Terra laughed. It was deep, throaty. Ven’s stomach flipped. His heart raced. “It’s not that bad. You just overcooked the meat a little bit.”

More than a little!

Ven snatched the bento from Terra’s lap. Terra’s chopsticks clicked on air. “I’ll make something better!” he said. Terra stared at him. “I swear it! So… try it again when I do!”

Terra just laughed again. He reached out and tussled Ven’s hair, mussing it up. Ven loved the feel of his hair out of place and the warmth that came with it. “I promise,” he said. “May I have it back now?”

“No!” Ven stood. “I’ll go get us food from the cafeteria!”

He ran off before Terra could see how red his cheeks had gotten.

* * *

He fit in like he’d never left.

Master Eraqus greeted him upon his return from work. Aqua rubbed salve over his cheek and helped him with his schoolwork. Terra gently kneaded his head until he was nearly asleep, then carried Ven to his room, where he fell asleep on Terra’s bed. He woke up in the morning to find Terra sleeping in a chair beside the bed, head hanging awkwardly as he leaned forward, hands on the edge of the sheets.

He reached up and traced the place where Terra had touched his cheek. It hadn’t been a dream. Terra had really done that. Without hesitation. Could he hope that it meant what he wanted it to mean? Or was he wanting too much?

He reached out, slowly, to cover those large hands. They were as warm as always. He wanted to hold them tight and never let go. Was that selfish? Terra already always gave him so much. He didn’t want to take any more than he already did.

There were a lot of things he wanted. A lot of ways he wanted to be selfish. Terra had told him strength was continuing on his path, but what if he didn’t like the path he’d chosen? What if, selfishly, he wanted to take a different one?

Ven nearly jumped out of his skin when Terra gripped his hand back. He stared wide-eyed as Terra stretched in his seat. “Good morning,” he squeaked, and wanted to melt through the floorboards at the sound.

Terra smiled. It was like the bright colors streaming through the window panes. “Good morning, Ven.”

He was still holding Ven’s hand as if it was normal. Was it normal? Ven wasn’t sure it was normal. He stared at it, that place where their skin met. His cheeks suddenly felt very, very hot. “Uh.”

Terra lifted Ven’s hand up. Ven stared with bug eyes as Terra kissed the backs of his fingers. He squeaked again. Terra reached out to just below Ven’s eye and touched one cheek. His injured one. Again. “That’s bruising,” he said, his lips thin. Terra took several breaths, then tried again. “Aqua’s probably already up, if you want to help her cook.”

It was a normal pastime for them. Ven had to repeat that word a few times as he got up, trying to remember what ‘normal’ even meant anymore.

He wandered dream-like into the kitchen to find Aqua making eggs. She turned as he entered. “Good morning, Ven!”

He stared at her. She kept stirring the eggs for several moments before she turned and cocked an eyebrow at him. “Ven?”

“Is Terra okay?” he asked, then closed his eyes in mortification. Now she was gonna ask.

She laughed. He peeked one eye open. “He’s fine,” she said. “I think he’s just figuring out what’s more important.” The words left Ven floundering even more. “I’ll start working on breakfast soon. I just have to make lunch.”

That shook him out of his stupor. “No, I want to help.” He stepped forward. “I gotta thank Terra, too.”

Aqua smiled as if hiding some secret. She let Ven take over the eggs and grabbed some ingredients for breakfast. Ven stared into the yellow depths of the pan and wondered just what had happened to these two while he’d been busy keeping distance between them.

* * *

Terra and Master Eraqus either loved the breakfast or pretended very, very well. Ven couldn’t tell. At least there were no crunching noises. Probably because Aqua had done most of the breakfast, but still. Ven had helped. More to the point, he’d been the one to cook all of the food they’d packed for lunch. Aqua had gotten the boxes together, and the both of them together had placed everything inside. They made it all the way to the school grounds before Ven worked up the courage to stand by Terra’s side and shove the bento he’d made under Terra’s nose. Aqua burst into laughter at the sight.

“Ven?”

He looked up from the ground to see Terra’s gaze on the bento. “I made it,” he said, then grimaced. No duh? He tried again. “For you.” _Obviously!_ “As thanks. And…”

Terra paused in the act of reaching for the bento. He lowered his hand. “And?” he prompted.

Ven shifted back and forth on his feet. He took several deep breaths. Be brave, he told himself. Be brave. Like Terra. “And… do you think… would Master Eraqus be mad if I asked to, um. Come back?”

Terra and Aqua both stared at him. Before he could take it back, Terra whooped. He scooped Ven up and twirled him around. Ven clutched the bento for dear life. “Really?” Terra asked, before he even set Ven back down. “Do you mean it?”

Ven did not understand the questions as they were asked. “Um…? Yes?”

“Ven, we would all be _thrilled.”_ Aqua knelt beside him and placed one hand on his shoulder. “It’s all we’ve ever wanted. We just wanted _you_ to want it.”

He hugged the bento. Tears burned in his eyes. He looked from Aqua to Terra. Terra nodded, his grin still a mile wide. “Oh,” Ven said. His voice wobbled, even though it was just a short, tiny sound. He bit his lip. “I… if I’m not a burden…” He looked down, remembering Terra’s words. How Terra had mourned the purpose of his existence if it wasn’t to be with and protect those he loved. Ven felt the same. “I wanna go back.”

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Terra said, placing his hand on Ven’s head. Ven leaned into it. “Your bedroom is just as you left it.”

Waiting. Ven tried to imagine it. Before he could, the warning bell rang, and Aqua jumped to her feet. “Oh, no!” She grabbed the bento from Ven’s hands and jammed it into Terra’s. “I am _not_ going to be late. Come on!”

They all ran into the building. Ven couldn’t help but laugh, a watery sound that only brought the tears back. He chased after them, watched their backs as they raced to the door and held it open for him, only to hurry forward all over again. The laugh grew louder. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten Aqua to almost be late, just because he’d said he wanted to… to go _home_. Permanently. With them.

He’d been strong, just like Terra had said. His reward was everything he’d ever wanted.

* * *

Vanitas’ glare greeted him the moment he entered the classroom. Ven met the look for a moment, then headed to his seat. Not even Vanitas could steal the giddy rush that made him practically hop down the aisle to his desk. His smile didn’t even dim. Looking at it now, he had no idea why he’d run and hidden the way he had. What had he been so afraid of? He wasn’t a burden; Terra and Aqua wanted him back. And if Master Eraqus didn’t, too, then why leave Ven’s room the same as it had been? He hadn’t even entered the room again, too afraid to see he’d been erased. To know instead that he hadn’t been, that it was still waiting for him…

He smiled again, nearly giggling where he sat. He was important to them. He wasn’t alone. He’d always known that, so why had he run away?

The teacher called the class to order, and Ienzo ordered them to stand. Ven nearly bounced from his seat. He saw someone turn to look at him. When he looked back, it was to find the girl with short black hair turned in his direction. For some reason, he’d never taken notice of her before. She stood inches shorter than even him. As soon as she noticed him noticing her, she snapped her attention back to the front of the class. He thought about it as he bowed to the teacher. Was she shy?

She was nice. He should talk to her, thank her properly. He swore to do so come lunch time.

* * *

“Ventus from Class 1-B. Terra from Class 3-B. Aqua from Class 3-A. Please report to the principal’s office. Bring your belongings with you.”

Ven’s good mood disappeared like smoke.

He looked up at the speaker high up on the wall. Maybe it was a fluke? Or maybe it hadn’t happened at all; maybe he’d fallen momentarily asleep–

“You heard the announcement.” Ven looked to the front of the classroom. The teacher made a shooing motion. “Go.”

Ven opened his mouth. Closed it. “You sure?”

The teacher glowered at him. Several students giggled. “While I would love to pretend my opinion in this matters, if the principal wants to see you, then you had better get moving, hadn’t you?”

Ven thought about that. He stood.

“Your things, Ventus. Unless you forgot which ones are yours?” The other students laughed.

Ven blushed. “Right.” He bent down and grabbed his bag, then pulled his bento from his desk. He nearly tripped out the door. Vanitas’ chuckle followed him out, louder, somehow, than everyone else’s. His ears went hot.

He wasn’t afraid of having done something wrong. If that were the case, then it would have just been him getting called to the office. Maybe him and Terra both, if it was about the fight that had happened in the hall yesterday. He would have readily explained that Terra hadn’t done anything, that he’d only stepped in the path, but that he hadn’t hurt anyone. But Aqua had been called down, too, so that couldn’t be it.

That meant something had happened with Master Eraqus.

Ven’s breath hissed through his teeth, the air suddenly too heavy to inhale. That couldn’t happen. He’d _just_ chosen to return. He wouldn’t have his home ripped from him again, would he? And what about Terra, Aqua? Would they be left alone, too? They were old enough that the state would only take care of them for a short time. They would lose their home, their family – would they all drift apart? Would he never see them again?

His heart thundered so hard in his ears he couldn’t hear himself swallow. He crushed his bag and bento to his chest. He wouldn’t be left all alone, would he?

A tall form stood before the door to the front office. He sucked in a breath. “Thank goodness,” he breathed, and ran forward. “Master Eraqus!”

Master Eraqus stood with his arms crossed over his chest, long hair pulled back in his usual ponytail, wilder by far than anything Ven’s hair could do. Other than the scar that had always been on his face, Ven saw no injuries or marks. He didn’t stoop or cradle some part of his body. Thank _goodness_. “Are you all right?” he asked anyway as he came to a rest in front of him.

“Ven. I was hoping you would be the first to arrive.” Instead of answering, Master Eraqus led Ven into the office. He held open the door for Ven. “Let’s get you seated. We have something important to discuss.”

The moment the door was open, Ven could hear shouting down the office halls, toward the principal’s and vice principal’s offices. Master Eraqus led him to that same hall. He paled.

“You can’t keep me in here. I don’t give a damn about the cops! Look at my face! He’s my brother! You have no right to keep me from him!”

Ven looked at the origin of the voice. It was the principal’s office. A deep bang sounded, as if someone had pounded on the principal’s desk. He paled further, imagining the kind of person capable of doing that.

“Come on, Ven.” Ven looked at the master. He’d opened a door further down the hall than the offices. Ven looked at it. It wasn’t a surprise that Master Eraqus knew the ins and outs of these rooms; he was one of the superintendents of the schools, after all. Still, it felt odd to enter as if he owned the place. He scooted closer, trying to ignore the shouting that started up again, and peeked into the room. A long, oval table and some plastic chairs. No one sat in any of the seats. “This might take some time,” the master said, nearly pushing Ven into the room. “You may wish to eat your lunch now. I’ll be back for you shortly.”

Ven turned to ask what was going on, only for the master to close the door on him. His mouth flapped open for several seconds before he managed to close it. He clutched his bento like a lifeline.

No way was he eating. Not when there was such a high percentage of him puking it back up.

He set his things on the table and looked around again. Nothing on the walls, no decorations save for two small trash cans beneath either corner of the table. A meeting room? Probably for the teachers. His hands trembled as he pulled out a chair. He didn’t sit.

What was going on? Why had Master Eraqus asked the principal to call down the three of them, himself and Terra and Aqua, only to have Ven separated the moment he arrived? Was this about him moving back in, after all? Did Master Eraqus not want him back?

He found himself hyperventilating and made himself slow his breathing. He put a hand over his heart to time the beats. Slow. Steady. Even if he wasn’t allowed back, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Probably.

For a long time, he didn’t hear anything over the shouting. It rose and fell in waves, growing to a crescendo when, for a moment, Ven heard a door open and then close again. Maybe the principal had needed to leave. Maybe there was some changing of the guard. Whatever the case, the shouting soon died down afterward. From then on, no sound came but quiet murmuring and the footsteps of people walking back and forth.

He sat. Stood up again. Paced the length of the table as if searching for the perfect spot. Stood in front of the door.

Surely he’d waited long enough? What was taking so long?

He didn’t even think about where Terra and Aqua had gone until he heard their voices, carried down the hall in muted anger. He pressed an ear against the door, then, thinking a little more like an adult, opened it and stepped out into the hall. As he did, he heard Terra’s voice rise in accusation.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

Ven turned, then blinked. Terra and Aqua stood just inside the front lobby leading to the offices, in front of the receptionist’s counter. They faced him. Well, him, too. But also _him._

He was staring at his own back.

Well. He’d never worn that much black. Black boots, black shirt, dark gray jeans. But that was definitely his back. And his hair. And, and…

Aqua was going to be so disappointed with him for falling asleep in class.

The thought was almost a relief. None of this was real. Great! Then he could do whatever he wanted. Time to go talk to Terra. Maybe hold his hand again. Heck, if this was a dream, he could go full-throttle, couldn’t he? That would be okay, wouldn’t it?

He wandered down the hall. The other version of him lifted his chin at Terra and struck a stance Ven never had – hands fisted at his sides, body leaning forward as if to pick a fight. “I don’t even know you,” his clone said, speaking his words like he was throwing them in Terra’s face. “Why should I bother explaining anything to you?”

Terra looked up and stilled. His gaze caught on Ven’s.

“We’re Ven’s friends,” Aqua said. She placed one hand against her chest, and with the other gestured toward Terra. “We won’t let you hurt him.”

“Hurt him?!”

“Enough.”

All heads turned. Master Eraqus entered through the office door with the principal in tow. Ven’s clone turned that aggressive stance on the two adults. Master Eraqus didn’t seem the least bit concerned. “Come on, all of you. I believe we’ve kept young Ventus waiting long enough.”

Master Eraqus gestured toward Ven.

The boy turned to him. It truly was his face. His eyes. His nose. His cheeks and mouth. Even the way those eyes widened reflected the look Ven knew to be on his own face. He held up a hand as if to test whether or not he stood in front of a mirror. His heart plummeted. A feeling like numbness consumed him. He wasn’t dreaming. This was too impossible to be a dream.

Ven breathed in. The face across from his looked somewhat different. It wasn’t anything to do with physical characteristics. No. It was just that those eyes had widened a little bit differently than his had; those brows furrowed instead of lifted; those lips parted a bit more than his. When Ven’s clone breathed in, it went in stuttered. All those minute disparities made the image before him come alive, and with a snap, Ven’s emotions burst out, flying about in such disarray as to leave Ven scrabbling. He finally peeled his gaze away from the unknown person to Terra, then Master Eraqus. “Who…?”

The boy flinched. Before Terra could do more than take a single step forward, the boy stormed up to him, nearly pushing Terra out of the way. “I’m Roxas,” the boy said, speaking before even the adults could say a word. His voice sounded the same, yet there was an edge to it that didn’t exist in Ven’s. It also sounded a bit scratchy, like he’d – like he’d been yelling. The boy, Roxas, blinked multiple times as he reached out. On instinct, Ven took his hand. “I’m your brother.”

Ven paused. Something niggled in the back of his mind; _“_ _our kids.”_ The echo of blond hair, blue eyes. Laughter. Sunlight. He blinked, and it was gone. With it went Ven’s world. He looked up to Terra with panic cracking like glass in his chest.

“Let’s slow down for a moment, shall we?” Master Eraqus held up his hand. Roxas turned, not letting go of Ven’s hand, and glared up at him. “I told you to take it easy. Things aren’t so simple that you can overwhelm him like this.”

“Your authority doesn’t mean anything,” Roxas hissed. “He’s _my_ brother.”

“And my adopted son.” Ven jerked a look toward Master Eraqus at the words. The master did not look at him, but instead kept his gaze on Roxas. “Let’s all sit down.”

Master Eraqus, the principal following like a lost puppy, led them all back to the room Ven had left. Ven entered first, taking the seat in front of which his things still rested. Terra quickly took the seat next to Ven, placing one hand on his shoulder. Ven looked up and gave the brunet a shaky smile. “I’m okay,” he said, keeping his voice down as everyone else chose their seats. Master Eraqus nearly pushed Roxas to the chair opposite Ven and placed the principal beside him. Master Eraqus took the seat at the head of the table, and Aqua, finally, the seat beside Terra. She leaned over to catch Ven’s gaze. “I’m okay,” he said again, this time for her benefit.

Neither looked particularly convinced.

Roxas, meanwhile, seemed to be busy glaring at everyone in sight. Save for Ven, who he watched carefully. Roxas took in the hand on Ven’s shoulder, then Ven himself, and finally sat in his seat. “You aren’t keeping me away from him,” he said before Master Eraqus could do more than open his mouth. Ven’s counterpart seemed ready to vibrate off his chair at any second.

“I have no intention of doing so,” Eraqus said. Finally, that gaze of his turned to Ven. “Ven. Do you remember the accident reports? The ones describing what had happened before you came to live with us?”

Ven nodded, then stopped. He furrowed his brows. “My parents died in a fire,” he said, not thinking. He winced when Roxas did. “I’m sorry,” he said, then, “there were problems with the electricity? It… said I had a sibling, right? An older one?”

“Younger,” Roxas said, then, “and we’re twins. You’re only older by six minutes.”

Once again, the feeling of echoes and lost colors spiraled through Ven’s mind. He rubbed his temples, but he couldn’t make anything out. He struggled for a few moments more before finally letting it go. He dropped his hands. “I’m so sorry. I don’t remember.” He looked at Roxas, then Master Eraqus. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“It’s nothing to be sorry for.” Roxas’ brows scrunched. Master Eraqus leaned over toward Ven’s… twin. “As I said before. This isn’t something so easily solved. And you’ve told me enough of your situation that I know you cannot provide for Ven what I and my family can.”

Roxas’ lips twisted into a snarl. If it wasn’t for the stiff line of his shoulders, Ven might have mistaken the look for anger. But, well. It was his face. He knew better.

Ven switched his gaze to Terra as the bell rang to signal the lunch break. His fingers curled around his bag and bento, trying to hide their shaking. It was _Terra_. He’d just talked about going home with him. With all of them. Returning to being a family. And Master Eraqus had even said Ven was his son! He hadn’t let him go? Hadn’t let him become a ward of the state? Had Ven still been a part of their family all this time?

He wanted to go back with them. He loved them, Master Eraqus, Aqua. _Terra_. But… he looked at this Roxas, this brother of his he couldn’t remember. His heart curled and twisted until he felt it wrap around his lungs and choke him. How could he leave this person alone?

He reached over and squeezed Terra’s leg. Terra’s attention turned so fully to him so fast it left Ven lost for words for a moment. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.” His voice came out a squeak. He closed his eyes and willed it to _cooperate_ for once. When he opened them again, a strange half-smile was battling for dominion on Roxas’ cheeks. Those eyes, so similar to his own, took on a suspicious sheen. “I don’t remember anything from that time,” he said. “Our – our parents. You.” He looked down. “I’m sorry.” Then he leaned forward. “But you’re so strong! To come find me like this. To demand we meet. You’re amazing!”

Roxas’ eyes widened. The sheen got brighter.

“We’re family, right? That means we should be together.” Ven turned to Master Eraqus. “He’s my brother.” He turned to Terra, willing him to understand. Wishing Terra didn’t look like Ven had just punched him. “I have to – no. I _want_ to go with him.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Ven. Terra.” Ven caught Terra flinch at his name and looked at him a bit closer. If he’d thought the line of Roxas’ shoulders stiff, Terra’s was downright brittle. Ven squeezed Terra’s leg again. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but Master Eraqus spoke first. “All of you are far too quick to think there are only two solutions here.”

Ven watched Master Eraqus and Mr. Wise share a nod. He didn’t understand it. Aqua seemed to, though. She gasped. “I am your guardian, Ventus. I don’t take that responsibility lightly. No matter who comes or what happens, you are a part of my family.” Master Eraqus gestured to Ven’s twin. “Roxas. You are a ward of the state, as well, are you not?”

Roxas didn’t answer.

“You skipped school. Ran away from – from from the next town over, it appears, hopped a turnstyle to public transit. All to get here today. Didn’t you?”

Ven’s eyes popped wide. Roxas, on the other hand, had nerves of steel. He simply lifted his chin. “So what? My brother’s here.”

There was an inflection there, more than just the simple ‘I came here because he was here’ emotions his answer indicated. Ven mulled it over for a few seconds. It was like Roxas had answered a different question entirely. Not a simple ‘did you,’ but instead a _‘why_ did you.’ And it sounded heavier, too. Like the question of _why_ meant something more – perhaps, Ven realized, that Roxas no longer had to ask _where_.

He’d forgotten everything. Because of that, he’d never questioned the absence of knowledge. But just because _he’d_ forgotten didn’t mean Roxas had.

Ven covered his mouth. Even acknowledging it, he’d underestimated Roxas’ strength.

“Roxas.” Master Eraqus leaned back and folded his hands on top of the table. “How about you join our family?”

Silence fell over the table. Roxas’ mouth flapped open.

Ven gasped. Squealed. Jumped out of his seat. “Oh, my god! Really?!” He launched himself at Master Eraqus. The man managed a muffled “oof” before he had to grip the table or else risk Ven landing them both on the floor. “Ack! Sorry, sorry!” Ven jumped off of him again. Master Eraqus took a deep breath as Ven rounded on Roxas. “Say yes! Oh, say yes! It’ll be great! Master Eraqus can be strict sometimes, but he’s really nice. And Terra and Aqua are the _best_. And the house is huge! And it’s wonderful; Aqua can help you with your homework and teach you to cook – I’ve gotten better – and Terra is crazy smart and kind and, and – you’ll never have to jump stuff or run away from home, and – and we could all be together. A family.”

Master Eraqus reached over to touch Ven’s side. Ven cleared his throat and sat down. “There’s plenty of room at our home, and any brother of Ven is a brother to these two. Just as any sibling of my son is also my son.”

Ven blushed. He looked at the long stretch of arm leading to him, the loose white shirt that curled in a loose collar around his master’s – his father’s? – neck. He reached out, grabbed it, and held it tight. He needed to apologize. He’d essentially run away, too. Looking at it now, he couldn’t imagine why.

Master Eraqus looked at Ven’s hand. He covered it with his own and smiled. Tears dotted Ven’s eyes. He scrubbed at them. “Master,” he said, but couldn’t finish. If he did, he would end up crying.

Master Eraqus let go of Ven’s hand. The moment he did, Terra reached out and wrapped his arm around Ven’s back. He pulled Ven toward him until Ven’s head rested on his shoulder. Only then did Terra turn to Roxas. “Our home has been waiting for it to be full again. You can help complete it. If you’d like.”

Ven widened his eyes and nodded emphatically. It made his head bounce off Terra’s arm.

Roxas grimaced. “Ven’s all I need,” he said. Those familiar blue eyes, mirror images of his own, took in Ven and Terra together. Ven flushed horribly, imagining what he looked like in that moment. Roxas seemed to chew on something unsavory for a long moment, then nodded. “I’m getting my brother back,” he said. He stood and glared at them all. “If being around all of you is the price I pay, then that’s fine.” He pointed at Ven. “But whichever of you gave Ven that mark is going to get it.”

“Now, boy,” Mr. Wise said, his voice warning.

“That person’s been taken care of,” Terra said without missing a beat.

“What exactly does that mean?” the principal asked. Master Eraqus laughed. “Sir! I must insist!”

“Not to worry,” Master Eraqus said, waving the principal down. “Terra wasn’t raised to hurt people without reason. I’m certain he found the best course of action.”

Ven looked to them all. The world seemed so huge suddenly, yet he loved the open space around him, and the way Terra held him as he stood within it. He wrapped his fingers into Terra’s. If the adults saw, they chose not to mention it. He beamed at Roxas. Those stiff shoulders slumped. For the first time, Ven saw Roxas smile back.

* * *

“Mom and Dad told you to run,” Roxas said. They were alone in the room, finally. Roxas had seemed on edge until the others had all left; the instant the door had closed behind them, ‘granting them some time,’ Roxas had turned into a while different person. He leaned lazily back on the table, fingers gripping its edge. He slouched where he stood facing Ven, who had retreated to the wall beside the door, too antsy to sit still. Roxas’ words – the first words between them, just the two of them – were sudden, as if continuing an old conversation. “They told you to run and hide. Your eyes got funny. I recognized it – I couldn’t help but recognize it, Ven.” Roxas reached out for him. Ven took his hand easily. It was strange. Like holding his own. “Because I have trigger words, too.”

Ven shook his head. “What?”

Roxas waved the question away with his free hand. “Not now. Not in public. And not with _them_ around,” he said, nodding toward the door where, just beyond, Terra likely paced the hall. “I know you trust them, but I don’t know them, so I don’t.” Still, he smiled at Ven. “I’m surprised by how familiar you are. Like the old you.”

From how Roxas said that, Ven could only assume that Roxas was _not_ like the old him. But that was fine. Even if he was, Ven would have to learn about him all over again, anyway. At least this way, it felt more normal. “I’m sorry I don’t remember.”

Roxas shook his head. “No. That’s part of… anyway.” He hopped onto the table. Ven’s bento bounced a bit. By now, the thing had to look a mess. “Your eyes glazed over, but by then it was too late. And Mom…” Roxas stopped. Took a breath. “Well. They told you to run, to hide and not talk to anyone. You repeated their words. We thought it was a question.” Roxas’ jaw clenched. “Mom said no one, unless it was a cop. If it was a cop, then you’d be forgiven for it.

“It was the wrong thing to say.” Roxas looked at the ground. Then back up. Ven didn’t understand the look in his eyes. “They didn’t know. Only I did, because I was there. Because we both…” Roxas growled. He slammed his hand onto the table. Ven jumped at the bang. “Whatever. I _found_ you. I swore I would. I promised them. And I did.” Roxas hopped off the table. _“Finally_. I found you.”

Ven didn’t really understand what was going on, but he could tell that Roxas had suffered. He sidled up next to Roxas and nudged him with his shoulder. Roxas looked at him. “I think you’re incredible,” he said. Roxas snorted. “I don’t know how you found me, or how you had the guts to just – just skip school and break the law and stuff. And you didn’t even get in trouble!”

Roxas laughed at that. “That part’s new. Usually I get in _plenty_ of trouble.”

Ven laughed. It sounded just like Roxas’. He leaned on Roxas’ shoulder. It stiffened against him for a moment, then relaxed. “And you talked down to Master Eraqus. He has such a stern face, I couldn’t imagine doing that!”

“I’ve talked down to scarier.” Roxas shrugged, then apologized when the movement jostled Ven. He went overly still after that, as if afraid Ven might get uncomfortable and move. “Look. These people. This ‘family.’ What do you really think of them?”

Ven looked toward the door. He could hear voices raised just above a whisper. Already, he could imagine Aqua and Terra bickering over whether to let them have their privacy or not. Oddly enough, it would be Aqua who would crack first. Terra was too polite to go storming in on people’s private conversations. Aqua wasn’t. “I know the only family you knew was us, you and me and our parents, before the fire. But, to me, those three are my family. I love them.”

Roxas took a deep, slow breath. “Family, huh.” Roxas leaned his head on top of Ven’s. It felt like some sort of habit. “Is that what that guy is to you?”

Ven flushed. “Huh?” It came out as an unintelligible mouse scream. “Who?”

Roxas snorted out a chuckle. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

Ven flapped his arms, throwing Roxas off of him and smacking the boy’s chest. “Sorry – it’s not like that!” His voice would _not_ go back to normal. He cleared it multiple times before trying again. “I mean, it’s not…”

Roxas’ eyebrow raised. “Like that?”

“Yes!” He stopped. “No!”

Roxas laughed. “Got it?”

“No! Let me try again.” Ven covered his mouth, then, slowly, his cheek. He could feel it burning hot under his fingertips. “It’s not something I’ve told anyone.” He chanced a quick glance at Roxas; as familiar as he felt, Ven didn’t know if it was just because he still felt a little like he was staring in a mirror. Still. He would trust this brother of his who had searched for him for so long. “I know we’re supposed to be family, but that’s not how I feel.”

Roxas smiled. “Good.” At Ven’s startled look, Roxas’ smile widened. “I want to be your only brother.”

Ven grinned. The words felt good. Like things were sliding into place. “I’m glad you found me.”

“Me, too.”

* * *

The bell rang. The principal released them from school ‘for as long as needed,’ whatever that meant. It said something about the tumult in their lives that even Aqua didn’t protest the idea of being out of school for some unknown length of time.

“Will there be some place where we can speak privately when we get there?” Roxas asked. Aqua sent the two of them a raised brow from over her shoulder as they walked out of the front office. Ven had lost count of how many bells had rung throughout their time in the principal’s office, but apparently the latest bell had ended the school day. Hours had gone by as they’d all discussed Roxas’ entrance into their lives.

“Yeah.” Terra opened the door for them. Master Eraqus went through first, still thanking Mr. Wise for helping them. The principal was busy waving off Master Eraqus’ thanks. “Ven’s room is still there, and there’s a guest room next to it down the hall. You could also choose to take a walk, if you’d like.” Terra smiled down at Ven. “Take whatever time you need.”

Ven eyed the bento he’d made for Terra. He hadn’t gotten any more of a chance to eat it than Ven had. He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Thanks, Terra.”

“Maybe you two should get some rest first, though?” Aqua exited the office and turned to look at the two of them as they followed suit. “It’s been a long day. Are you tired?”

“We’re fine,” Ven said, then turned to Roxas to double-check. His twin nodded. Ven hopped out into the hall. “I’ve got more energy than ever. Today’s been crazy, but it’s nice. It’s a good kind of crazy.”

“All right.” She frowned at Ven’s cheek, then at his bento. “I’ll drive us home while Roxas goes with Master Eraqus to complete some paperwork.” Roxas scowled at the mention of being separated. Ven nudged him again and shrugged. The paperwork would put the adoption in motion; it was a necessary step to them being together longer than just one afternoon. Roxas huffed, but he didn’t argue. “So on the way home, eat your lunch. All right?”

Ven looked at Terra. “Terra hasn’t eaten, either.”

Terra smiled. “Then we can both eat on our way back.”

Ven’s face burst into flame. Roxas took one look and rolled his eyes. “Right. I’ll travel with the old man, then, shall I?”

“I’ll see you soon,” Ven promised. The words made Roxas shiver. He turned on Ven, right there, and grabbed his upper arms.

“Don’t…” He hissed. Looked away. Looked back, his eyes harder than ever. Ven felt Roxas’ body nearly vibrating. “Just. You.” Roxas glared at Terra. “If Ven ever starts acting strangely, if he _ever_ seems to react poorly to someone’s words, like he’s just gone blank. You get him out of there. Do you understand?”

Terra’s brows furrowed. He looked from Roxas to Ven and back again. “I don’t, but you can believe that I will keep Ven safe. No matter what.”

Roxas scowled. “Fine.” He looked back to Ven. “I’ll explain everything later. All right? I promise.”

Ven nodded. Just as Roxas made to leave, he grabbed his twin’s hand. Roxas turned right back to him. “I don’t understand,” he whispered. He opened his mouth, only to hesitate. “You said our parents died in a fire, but I ran off? What happened to them? To us?”

Roxas closed his eyes. “I promise, I’ll explain. Just. I’m glad you for… that you don’t remember. Be glad you don’t remember, okay?” Roxas squeezed his hand and moved over to Master Eraqus, his lips pressed thinly together. “Let’s hurry this up.”

Master Eraqus didn’t scold Roxas for the attitude. He just turned to them, told them to expect him and Roxas by late evening, and led Roxas out the door. Ven watched them go, then turned to Terra and Aqua. “I’m confused,” he admitted.

“At this point,” Aqua said, “confusion is likely the wisest reaction.”


	3. An Addendum (aka Maybe Others’ Lives Aren’t Normal, Either)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another perspective.

Xehanort stopped walking.

Vanitas glanced up. Xehanort’s attention was not on him – thank goodness – but instead on a little boy around Vanitas’ age walking quickly across a crosswalk on the other side of the street. The boy was whistling and skipping like a little kid, his school bag swinging wildly back and forth as he moved forward. The grin on his face was so big, Vanitas could see his teeth gleaming from where he stood.

“Well, well.” Ignoring the rules of the road, Xehanort stepped into the street and made a beeline for the boy. Vanitas hesitated for several moments before hurrying after Xehanort. He wasn’t yelled at. He must have made the right choice.

“Which one are you?” Xehanort said, stepping slowly up from the street to the sidewalk. The young boy looked up at Xehanort. His brows scrunched. When Xehanort stepped closer, the boy took a step back. Xehanort hummed as if recognizing something. “Are you sure this is real?” he asked. The little boy blinked up at him. Xehanort frowned. “The other?” His lips twisted. “The one taken in by Eraqus.”

At the name, the boy perked up. He leaned closer. “Do you know Master Eraqus?”

Xehanort snorted. “‘Master,’ is he?” Xehanort leaned into the boy’s space. The excited look skittered off as quickly as it came. “Still acting as if he’s a martial artist first and a superintendent second? Or is he simply mocking me? As if seeing you here alone without your teenage escorts isn’t insult enough. As if he thinks me sufficiently subdued.”

The boy didn’t answer.

Xehanort scowled. “Of course.” He stood straight – or at least as straight as he could – and glared down at the kid with a look that Vanitas recognized very well. He quailed, thankful that, for once, the look was not directed at him. “Hide alone from Eraqus,” he said. For the first time in his life, Vanitas saw the same empty, numb look cross another’s face. He knew that look – he’d felt it on his own face countless times. “And forget this encounter. Do that, and you might be forgiven.”

The kid’s spine straightened. With a still-empty look, the bond turned on his heel and left – heading in the opposite direction than before. Xehanort smiled. “Vanitas.”

Vanitas stiffened.

“R͔̤̩̩͇͜ę̘̲̘̖͕c͚̜̥͢e̢͓̩i̧̮̞̭̞v̧͖̜͖͚ͅe̢̱̙̦̩ o̡͚̲̣͈͙͕̫̣r̡̩͓͙̤̩̙͉͉̙̫͈d̡̜͍͔̬e̢̞͍̯̝͓r̘̭̥̟̲̩͇̩͈̙͢ͅs̢͍̩͓̝̗.̢̤͈͓̠̟̞͕̮̞̖” Vanitas’ body went lax; that familiar numbness swept over him. “You are to ensure that young Ventus here removes himself from the lives of Eraqus and his little adopted ilk. Y͈̯͈̦͔̟̗͓̦̗͢o̡͉̣̙̯̳̦̙̗̩̥͈̤ų͔̠͔̜͖͓͈͚̘ͅ a̭͇͔̭͍̱͕̞̦͢ͅr̨͔͓̪̞̰̗͎͚̭e̢͇̤͇̘̥͓̟̗͇ m̨͍͈̘͈̬̭͈̲y̨̗̪͎͓̗̰̝͉͎̦̙ s̖͖͖̳̞͢ͅh̨̰̗͎̭̱̫̯͇͖ͅą̗͔̫̙͍͉̣d̨͓̰̪͚̞̪̠͍͇̖͓̙o̞̖̗̩̙͇̬̳͙͚̣͢w͇͇̱͢ͅ.̙̲̜̤͢ Ẏ̭̤͍̣̬͙͔̞̱̪͎̄̌̃͆͂̈̃̃̽ỏ͓̥̞͍̦̆̽̔̑̌̈́̓̎ͅͅu̬̬̯̥̖̩͓͉̞͌̾̐͒ͅͅ a̩̦̰̯͈̗̟͙͌̏͑r̝̗͖̪̰̞̪̟͎͓͙͆͗̒̈̀̽̒́͊e̩̯̥͍̲̝̪͔͚͕̘̅́͋̆̋̉͊͊͌̋̽̚ͅ d͖͖̗̮̤̥̊̽̉̓̎͊̋͗̇̇̌a͔͎̙̖̪̥͙͙̜͗̊͒͛̀̆ͅr̩͇̟̦͇̟̬̾̌͊̾̿̅̄͌̇̇k̜͇͖̰̖̲̬͈̃̾̐͂̉̔͌ṉ͖̠͚̏̌͊͐ͅe̞̱̙͎̞̬̣͒͒̏̓̍ś͔͇̝̠̤̱͈̘̠̿͒̇̂̄s͙̭̞̩̘̱̖̅̍̐̽̃͐͛̇͑.̪̘̯̘̲̟̫͔̤̇̈̽̀”

“Yes, master.”

* * *

For two years, he had watched little Ventus, just as ordered. And, just as ordered, he had used and reused those little phrases on Ventus every time he saw the boy with those from Master Eraqus’ household. Yet, despite how many times he successfully triggered the boy’s training, he kept going back. Two days, three, and then he was trotting back after them like a puppy. Vanitas needed to get a leash for the brat.

Any thought of having made progress died the instant one of those ‘teenage brats’ had shown up to defend Ventus while Vanitas had confronted him.

He gritted his teeth as he headed down the hall, the end of the day bustle swerving to avoid him. Xehanort was going to punish him.

How was it his fault? He’d gone after the kid non-stop since he’d been given his order in middle school. He’d hunted the boy every free moment of their lives, chasing him down during lunches, after school, before class. He couldn’t keep them separated. He’d _tried_.

It wasn’t fair. Ventus had been trained, just like Vanitas. Only he hadn’t been considered good enough – why else would Xehanort choose to keep Vanitas around, but not any of the others? It had to mean Vanitas was trained better, was more useful, or else what was the point of him being kept? And yet Ventus was the one who had people jumping in front of him to defend him. Ventus was the one who had people stop and help him out when he was upset or hurt – as if Vanitas ever hurt the brat as much as Xehanort could hurt him when he didn’t do well enough. Ventus made friends, had people watch out for him, even though he wasn’t as useful. Why?

Xehanort was going to hurt him again. He was already trying to explain himself – how he’d been keeping his attacks to when Ventus was alone, and that he’d usually had another minute or two before he could have gotten caught, and that he’d planned on using the trigger words again – even though he had just the day before, the frequency of it startling, almost as much as the _need_ for such frequency – before Eraqus’ adopted son had come storming in – when he reached the lobby and stopped short.

The school’s lobby opened to the shoe lockers before reaching the exit. It was at the lockers that most students had already converged, each of them trading last-minute stories or gripes about the schoolwork. A few hurried past, heading for whichever extracurricular activity they’d chosen.

Vanitas didn’t care about any of them. He cared about the small contingent of people clustered just in front of all of that, right beside the front office. Master Eraqus – known to Vanitas only through old pictures Xehanort had shown him to ensure he knew who to keep Ventus away from – and the two kids of his, the girl with the odd hair and the boy who’d defended Ventus yesterday. And Ventus. With them! With all of them, as if Vanitas hadn’t ordered him two days ago to stay away.

And another Ventus.

Vanitas just barely kept from scrubbing at his eyes. Two. Two?

One headed off with Eraqus before Vanitas could so much as cross the lobby. He took solace on the stares of those around him – he wasn’t the only one looking back and forth between the two twins, trying to figure out what was going on. He caught two sophomores pointing them out with wide eyes, as if their hairstyles weren’t just as eye-catching. A girl in their class, one he knew to have been trained, as well, stood dead center of the lobby looking at the two, her mouth clearly forming the word, “two?” as she cataloged the newcomer. Seeing everyone else’s surprise gave him the opportunity to recover from his own before the Eraqus kids saw.

“ _Which one are you?”_

Suddenly Xehanort’s old words made sense. Two Ventuses? No. Siblings. Twins, by the looks of them. Vanitas shivered. For a moment, he wasn’t sure which was which. Then he looked closer. The one leaving with Eraqus had a scowl on his face. Ventus seemed unable to form such an expression. That one had to be the _other_.

He didn’t know what was going on, but if Master Xehanort learned that another had joined Eraqus, then he wouldn’t be happy. An unhappy Xehanort meant an unhappy Vanitas.

He had to do something.

“Let’s just head home for now,” Vanitas heard the brunet – Terra – say just as he approached. A chill swept up his spine. Home? He wanted Terra to be talking about Ventus’ crappy studio apartment, rented out by Eraqus when Ventus followed Xehanort’s command to stay away. He wanted to believe the brat hadn’t managed to break completely free of Xehanort’s orders. But he didn’t think that was the case.

For someone who was supposed to be weaker than Vanitas, the runt had an amazing ability to ignore the commands given to him. An ability that had likely made him undesirable to Xehanort. Vanitas’ fists clenched. He, on the other hand, did not have such an ability. “So, you finally managed to find someone who wants to be around you,” he said, nearly shouting to be heard above the traffic before Ventus got away. “Your reflection.”

Ventus didn’t even look angry. Terra moved to stand in front of the little pipsqueak, but the brat just laughed. “I thought that, too, at first! We really do look a lot alike, huh?”

Vanitas grimaced. That was the worst part of making the kid forget over and over again; he never remembered exactly how afraid of Vanitas he should be. He only remembered a few moments of abuse. With Terra right next to him, the chances of Vanitas scaring him were slim. That wasn’t what he needed.

Terra held one hand out, mimicking the pose he’d taken the day before. “What do you want?” he asked.

He grimaced again. His fists clenched. His shoulders rose to his ears. The boy hadn’t bothered refuting his statements; he’d just made it clear that, no matter what Vanitas said or did, Terra would push Vanitas away and continue standing by Ventus’ side.

Why? Why was this one so special? Why did he have so many people choosing to watch out for him? Vanitas was the special one. Why did no one care about _him?_

“Oh,” Ventus said. His voice was suddenly, oddly soft. He’d peeked around Terra’s body. Now, he looked into Vanitas’ eyes. “You’re lonely.”

He bristled. “So this is it?” he asked. He cast his gaze toward Terra’s arm, knowing the approximate height of his target. It didn’t matter if the brat saw him. Only that he heard him. “Hide alone behind others instead of sticking it out on your own?” The laughter died out. A stillness centered from behind the big guy. The girl, Aqua, sent a glance toward Ventus and frowned. “Forget that. Stand on your own. Do that, and you might be forgiven.”

Terra surged forward. Vanitas dropped down, ready to fight. The girl, however, reached out and grabbed Terra’s arm. “Terra! Look.” She pointed. Already, Ventus was busy doing as commanded – he swerved around the students still loitering around the lockers and headed for the door.

Just like that, Vanitas didn’t matter anymore. Terra and Aqua raced off, leaving Vanitas alone. He could only hope that his last-ditch effort would sink in and keep the kid away from them before they dragged him back. He covered his face and breathed.

He didn’t know why Xehanort was keeping an eye on the boy. He didn’t know why he had been commanded to do this. He didn’t know what was going to happen to him when Xehanort found out he’d failed.

He scrubbed his eyes. Two years. Two years of following this command, and he was going to be punished for failing.

Footsteps came from the front office. He quickly lowered his hands, his mouth already open to snap at a teacher to leave him alone. Instead, the person approaching was the black-haired girl from his class. She held her bag to her chest, likely still reacting as commanded to her own training. Nonetheless, she stared at him, pausing only for a moment in the middle of the hall, taking in his glare before continuing toward him.

He glanced around. The other students had finally changed their shoes and left for the day, or else headed to their respective clubs. The only other person in the halls was a teacher, one he didn’t recognize. The teacher opened the door to the front office and greeted the receptionist within. The door closed behind him. By the time he focused on the girl again, she’d already reached his side. He jerked back. She did the same in reaction. Her wide eyes took him in for a second more before she relaxed. One small hand reached out to him. He sucked in a sharp breath. “Don’t,” she said. Her shoulders stiffened. She stared at his chest. “Don’t say it. Please.”

He gritted his teeth. Xehanort considered her training interesting, but overall, useless. A single word allowed too little control over how the order was interpreted – the word “disappear” had made her need to seem insignificant instead of helping her sneak around and blend in, as would have befitted the spy Xehanort had hoped to create – and in the end, she had become too much of a timid waif. Because of that, Xehanort had considered her a failed experiment and let her go. And because of _that_ , Vanitas had been given no orders about her.

He closed his mouth.

She smiled. Her shoulders relaxed. She raised her gaze back up to his face. There was something new about her suddenly. Small, quiet. But the wide smile she gave him was anything but timid. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he snapped. She reached out again, this time touching his hand. “What?”

“There,” she said. Her smile dimmed, but remained. “Your hands are always shaking. Now they’ve stopped.”

He wrenched his hand away as his cheeks grew hot. “I don’t shake.”

He did. He always had. It was worse after he was given orders.

She didn’t correct him. It was worse than if she did. “Want me to show you something?” she asked instead.

He snorted. “What could you possibly show me?”

“There’s a place I like to go when… when I’ve been triggered and don’t want to be alone.” Though she still hugged her bag close to her chest with one hand, she grabbed his with the other in a firm grip, refusing to let go. She wasn’t nearly as timid as she had been forced to seem. “Do you want me to show you?”

He thought about it. He thought about going home, of Xehanort, of him finding out that Ventus was with Xehanort’s mortal enemy again. He thought of the beating waiting for him behind those doors. “Fine,” he decided. He wrenched his hand free again and grabbed her wrist. At her wince, he loosened his grip. He glared out toward the lockers, the lobby silent and still now that everyone else had moved on. “Just tell me where to go.”

The girl laughed at him. “All right.” She pointed to the entrance of the school. “Go through those doors.”

He stomped forward. “I could have guessed that!”


	4. Surely Every Teenager Has To Deal With Unconditioning

Ven left the school and turned on the sidewalk, heading away from the parking lot as if intending on walking back to that studio apartment Master Eraqus had set him up in. Aqua sent Terra a single, worried glance before racing after Ventus. “Ven?”

He didn’t respond. Terra’s heart hammered its way into his throat. “Ven!” He surged forward, running past Ven so he could block the boy’s path. He bent down and placed his hands on Ven’s shoulders. “Ven, look at me.”

Ven’s gaze stared emptily toward his collarbone. The look was the same as when Terra had first met Ventus over four years earlier, a look as if someone had cut away a part of the boy’s soul. “Ven. Ven!”

He shook him. He knew better, but he did it, anyway. Aqua came around, sending a warning glare as she knelt beside them. “Ven? Can you hear me?”

Ven’s lips moved. Whatever he was trying to say, Terra couldn’t hear it. He leaned closer. “…be forgiven, be forgiven…” He jerked away, his eyes widening.

“What’s happening?” Aqua asked. He could only shake his head. “I don’t know. We need to get him home.”

He knew what Aqua was thinking. They needed Roxas. He’d said something about telling Ven about something like this, explaining it all later. If they wanted any chance of knowing what to do, they needed to get to Roxas.

Getting Ven to go with them, however, was something else again. He outright refused to turn with them toward the cars, started getting agitated when Terra and Aqua tried to force him, and outright shrieked when Terra made to pick him up. Terra nearly dropped him at the sound; Ven had screamed as though Terra had tried to rip his arms off.

“What do we do?” Aqua asked. She looked around. They’d garnered stares, of course, not just from fellow students but from a few teachers. There would be questions. They might be stopped; a few teachers might not know their relationship to Ventus. If they were stopped, would Ven continue just… wandering? Would he run away from them, to somewhere they didn’t know? Would something happen to him?

Terra ran a hand through his hair. He had no more idea of what to do than Aqua. Ven still looked dead, completely empty. A husk. What had that boy done to him?

Without anything else to try – and with Ven starting to hunch into himself, moaning in short bursts – Terra bent down to his knees and laced his fingers with Ven’s. Ven tugged at them, still trying to get away. “Ven.” He didn’t respond to his name any more than he had every time previously. “It’s me. Terra. Do you recognize me?”

Ven’s mouth moved, forming Terra’s name. The sudden feeling of hope was heady in Terra’s chest. When Ven yanked on his hands yet again, Terra let him go. Ven grabbed his head and curled down. Terra sucked in a breath.

It was going to happen. Just like it had the first day they’d met.

Terra reached forward, wrapped his arms around Ven, placed his hands on the back of Ven’s head, and hugged him close, until Ven’s face was buried in the collar of his shirt. “I’m so sorry,” he said as Ven groaned into his chest. “I didn’t protect you.”

“What’s going on here?”

Terra made to look up, only to feel Aqua’s hand on his back. He heard her stand. “Sorry to worry you, Miss Lockhart. Our little brother’s got a migraine. We’re trying to get him to our car, but it hurts his head to move.”

“Should we get an ambulance?”

“We want to get him to Master Eraqus first. If we can get him to the car, then he can rest a bit.”

Terra tuned them out as Aqua stretched the truth so thin it could only be called a lie. It was an ability that eluded Terra, so it was best that he stay out of it. Instead he focused on Ven, on the places he clutched his head like it might tear apart. He touched the places between Ven’s fingers, gently rubbing against the scalp. Ven groaned again, loudly. Terra was about to pull away when, finally, Ven slumped into his arms. His breaths were hot puffs against Terra’s shirt. Terra rubbed at those places on Ven’s head some more, not certain what he was supposed to do. It was when Ven slowly raised his hands and clutched at Terra’s back that he thought things might somehow be working out. “Ven?” he whispered. “You with us?”

Ven pulled back so quickly Terra nearly lost his balance. Ven sent him a brilliant smile. “Yeah! We’re heading home now, right? When do you think Master Eraqus and Roxas will get back? It won’t take them all evening to do preliminary paperwork, will it?”

The one-eighty left Terra swaying where he knelt. He looked up to find Aqua and their second-year psychology teacher staring at them. Ven looked around, his grin slipping a bit. “What’s going on?”

“Are you feeling better, Ven?” Aqua asked, abandoning her place beside Miss Lockhart and moving to Ven’s side. Ven looked at her, his brows furrowed. Aqua touched Ven’s forehead, worming her fingers between Ven’s body and Terra’s. “We should get you home. Sound okay?”

Ven’s face crumpled. He looked from her to Terra. “You mean…”

“With us,” Terra said. Ven slumped and grinned. Terra tried to swallow around the lead encasing his throat. He stood up on shaky legs and offered a hand to Ven. This time, there was no attempt to get away. Ven reached for his hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

They thanked Miss Lockhart and escorted Ven to Aqua’s car. Ven seemed more confused than anything else; he looked around a few times as if unsure of how he’d gotten there. He watched Terra and Aqua closely and stuck like glue to Terra’s side. He also didn’t fail to comment on how Terra’s hands were shaking.

Only after getting Ven safely inside the car did Terra manage a deep breath. He still didn’t understand what had happened. Was it over? Would it happen again? What in the world was ‘it’ to begin with?

He and Aqua shared a look over the hood of the car. Aqua nodded toward the back. “Stay with him,” she hissed. His brows scrunched. She rolled her eyes. “Stay and eat with him. Make it normal, Terra.” She lowered her voice still more. “He needs normal. And he needs you.”

Terra’s lips thinned. Aqua wasn’t so stupid that she didn’t know how he felt. She might very well have been giving Terra an excuse to stay close to Ven, to make him feel better and assure himself that Ven was safe. But was it really smart? He was already head over heels. He’d already made a mistake, getting too close when Ven considered Terra his _brother_. Shouldn’t he keep his distance? At least a little?

“Terra? Aqua? Everything okay?”

He looked back at Ven, ignoring the raised brow Aqua sent him. Ven leaned against the door, his blue eyes – bright and focused and beautiful again, as if that nightmare had never even happened – focused on Terra. When Terra met that gaze, Ven tilted his head, reiterating his question with body movements. A simple sign of life. One that had been missing mere moments before.

Terra took a deep breath, then another. He nodded, accepting Aqua’s order – Aqua’s _offer._ He moved around the car to sit in the back with Ven.

* * *

Ven nearly bounced in his seat as Aqua led them out of the school parking lot. He wasn’t sure what had happened in-between Vanitas goading him again and them being outside, but he was pretty sure it involved some overprotective, motherhenning instincts. He didn’t really think Vanitas was a threat – not enough to make Terra and Aqua get involved – but that had never stopped them.

It had apparently gotten to Aqua and Terra, too, if the way they’d acted since exiting the school was anything to go by. But that hadn’t stopped Terra from joining Ven in the back to eat. Hence why he was bouncing in his seat.

Whatever was chewing on Terra’s thoughts seemed to leave him once he took in Ven’s excitement. He huffed. With a smile, he leaned forward. “Do you feel all right?”

It was the fourth time Terra had asked him that. Aqua had asked him twice more. “I’m _fine_ ,” he said again. “Vanitas didn’t even touch me!” The name of his bully made Terra scowl. It made Ven rush his next sentence, hoping to skip this part and reach the point where they ate together. He eyed the bento he’d carefully made Terra that morning. He didn’t want it to go to waste. All that effort, and Terra wouldn’t even eat it? Unacceptable! “Besides, Vanitas was just lashing out. I’d be sad, too, if I was always alone.”

“Maybe he’s alone because of his attitude,” Aqua said.

Ven shook his head. His fingers slid over to his bento on the seat beside him, fiddling with the knot on the cloth wrapped around it. “No. I saw the look on his face.” The way his eyes had squinted as he’d glared, the way his lips grimaced more than growled. The way his hands had shaken. “He’s sad. That’s why he hurts people. Because he’s been hurt, and it’s the only way he knows how to feel.”

How long had Vanitas felt like that? How long had Ven gone without noticing?

Terra and Aqua were silent at that. Ven leaned forward. He opened his mouth to ask Terra if he wanted to eat, only to pause. Would it be rude to demand Terra start eating the food he made? He’d done it before, but that was… was _before_. Now, he found he wanted Terra to eat it because Terra was looking forward to it, not because Ven wanted him to eat it.

Agh, these feeling were a pain! Screw it!

“I’m gonna eat! I’m starving!” Ven grabbed his bento like it was trying to get away from him and slammed it into his lap.

Or what was supposed to be his lap.

Only, the cloth around the bento untied just in time for the box to fly out from its wrappings, open wide, and splatter Ven’s food all over Terra’s face.

“Oh, _god_ , no,” Ven moaned. He covered his face and contemplated dying.

When he dared to peek out again, it was to the sight of Terra sitting deadly still as food fell slowly into a pile in his lap. Rice peppered his face like whiskers. Egg slowly unrolled from its wrap to dangle like an off-colored bang down Terra’s hair to his forehead. A miniature octopus fell from Terra’s nose into his lap, plopping wetly on top of the rest of what had once been a carefully prepared, appetizing meal.

Aqua took one look in the rearview mirror and burst out laughing.

“Terra, I’m _so sorry!”_ His hands hovered in front of Terra as the teen reached up and plucked the egg from his hair. It left a trail of melted cheese that gunked up his hair into one giant clump. Aqua’s attempt to stifle her laughter nearly drove them off the road.

On a spark of inspiration, Ven reached down and snatched the traitorous cloth from the floor and leaned over to try to grab up the food sliding inexorably into the crease between Terra’s legs. He grabbed several chunks of food, quickly dumping them into his bento box. Terra, meanwhile, pulled the rice from his face. Ven mumbled senseless apologies as he finished grabbing hunks of food from Terra’s lap and started patting at the damp spots on Terra’s pants. He managed this for maybe ten seconds before realizing exactly what he was doing, and to whom, and exactly _where_. He froze. His face erupted lava red.

Terra cleared his throat. Those long fingers wrapped around Ven’s, taking the cloth from him. “Thanks, Ven. I’m fine.” Ven snapped back to his side of his car so fast his seatbelt jammed up on him. He curled his hands into fists on his lap and stared studiously at the seat in front of him as he listened to Terra scraping at his pants. “On another note,” Terra said after several moments, “I can confirm you’ve gotten better at cooking rice.”

Ven dared look. A few pieces of rice still stuck to Terra’s forehead, but none that had once been there seemed to have fallen into his lap or around his body. Had he actually eaten what had landed on him? Ven looked away, his cheeks burning themselves to ash. His fingers curled into his pants, wrinkling them. “Sorry,” he said again.

Terra chuckled. _Chuckled._ “It’s fine, Ven. I’m glad you’re back to normal.”

Ven covered his face again.

He heard Terra moving around. A moment later, something was placed in his lap. Ven lowered his hands to find Terra’s bento in his lap. Ven’s gut twisted.

“Here,” Terra said. “You can have mine.”

Ven’s heart sank. He’d worked hard for Terra to eat that. It was for Terra. Not him. “That’s all right,” he said, his chuckle half-strangling him. “I’m good. You have it.”

He didn’t dare look at Terra. He knew very well what he’d said just before throwing his food into Terra’s face. He didn’t want to think what Terra thought of him.

“Then let’s share it.”

Ven’s eyes popped wide. He looked at Terra. A wide, gentle smile graced that face. Ven’s heart hammered against his ribs. Oh. Oh! “Yeah!” He nearly hopped out of his seat at the idea. This time, he was very, very careful about handling the bento. He untied the knot, only to move the cloth over to Terra’s lap in case he needed another. He opened it, then paused. He looked around. Of _course_. Of course his chopsticks had landed on the floor, somehow over on Terra’s side of the car. He looked back down at the one remaining pair of chopsticks.

“Ven?”

He jumped. Terra’s hand was the only thing that stopped a repeat performance of the flying food. Terra laughed. “Maybe we should put this on my lap?”

Ven might as well paint red on his face and be done with it! He went back to clutching his pants and nodded. “There’s only one pair of chopsticks,” he said, pointing out the obvious.

“We’ll share.”

Boom.

Ven heard it: the death of his last brain cell.

Terra picked up the chopsticks and plucked up one of the octopus mini dogs. He sampled it, then grinned. “Ven! This is really good!”

Ven wanted to curl into a ball and disappear.

“Here.”

He looked. He knew he shouldn’t look, but he looked. Terra was actually holding his chopsticks out, end first, toward Ven. Between them sat another of Ven’s miniature octopuses. Ven’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

Terra didn’t expect him to eat that… from his hand? Did he?

“Um.” He looked up to Terra’s face. He couldn’t read the expression there, but he was sure there had to be some level of trolling going on. Then again, he thought, his mind spinning out wildly, likely overheated into pure delirium, he’d thought maybe the kiss had been indicative of something. Maybe Terra liked him. Maybe Terra was flirting. Maybe Terra was going to confess to something, right there in the back of Aqua’s car while grains of rice just dripped like water from his hairline.

That was the delirium talking.

“Sure,” he squeaked, and reached out for the chopsticks. As if to take them from Terra’s hand. Because that was normal.

“Ven, your hand is shaking.” Ven looked at his hand. Yup. It sure was. He looked back up at Terra. The smile hadn’t dimmed. “Here.” Terra moved the thing closer.

Ven’s internal monologue had become nothing but incoherent screaming.

He leaned toward Terra and took a bite. Like… normal. Just a normal, completely normal… bite. Onto chopsticks.

He unclenched his teeth after far too long a moment and slid back, his wide eyes stuck on Terra. Terra grinned at him, then looked back down to the bento. He grabbed another one and ate it himself. Off the chopsticks.

_Indirect kiss._

That mental screaming was raising itself to a new octave.

He didn’t taste the food. He was pretty sure he was supposed to. That was a normal part of the eating process. Taste. All he knew was that he chewed, swallowed too soon, and had to pretend he hadn’t nearly choked himself before Terra noticed and freaked out again.

Terra gave him the last mini octopus, then moved on to the eggs. Ven’s brain was still screeching _indirect kiss_ like a banshee alarm clock by the time they finished that and moved on to the cut fruits.

Terra acted like the whole thing was completely normal. It made Ven feel like an idiot. Here he was, making a big deal out of something Terra didn’t seem to really care about one way or the other. Was he stupid? Was he the only one who thought this was a big deal? Was this not what TV made it out to be? Was it actually normal? Did Terra and Aqua share their food with each other?

That thought made Ven’s heart rate steady a bit. It was disappointing, maybe? Sad. He thought meals were supposed to be this big thing, something only couples did. But he knew Terra and Aqua weren’t like that. They were like brother and sister. Maybe siblings shared things like this? Maybe, since he was adopted by Eraqus, too, he was considered a brother? _(Ouch.)_ But maybe that was why Terra could do this, even share chopsticks, without thinking it was anything more than some normal meal thing?

They were nearly done the meal before Ven was able to think in coherent sentences again. Terra handed Ven the bento and chopsticks, letting him dig into the rice. “Since I already had some,” Terra said, pointing with a wide grin toward his face, making Ven want to bury himself beneath the car seat.

Ven bent the bento up to his lips, but his gaze was caught on Terra. The brunet hadn’t stopped smiling once throughout all of this. Maybe he didn’t think sharing this bento was as monumental an occasion as Ven did, but it was clear he was enjoying himself. Even if it was something normal, Ven felt the same. Being with Terra always made his heart race. Just the way he smiled, the way he listened. He was easygoing, and friendly, and polite, and gentle. His strength didn’t need to be showcased. Maybe _that_ was proof of it – the fact that it needn’t be broadcast, that it could exist as smooth as a tranquil sea, its depths housing its greatest force.

Aqua stopped the car – as far as Ven could tell, they should have arrived about twenty minutes ago – and turned it off. “We’re home, Ven.”

Ven looked out. Master Eraqus owned an estate, one that had been passed down to him through an untold number of generations. It sat on acres and acres of private land, including a wide meadow with a river weaving its way across the middle of the owned property. The house stood four stories tall, with a long, gated driveway that led into a front yard filled with carefully cropped and cultivated pieces of landscaping. Ven only vaguely remembered leaving here to live on his own. The memory was hazy; all he could recall with certainty was Terra touching his wrist and asking, “are you sure?”

Now, though, he couldn’t imagine what would have made him ever want to leave this place, and not just because it was crazy beautiful. Aqua keyed in her code and drove through the gate, giving Ven the best chance to pretend the view was the reason he felt his tears tickling the back of his throat. He’d come back here countless times in the past two years, always trying to pretend he wasn’t desperate to return.

Aqua reached the garage, and Ven scrambled with his seatbelt, nearly jumping out before Aqua put the thing into park. Terra quickly followed after, hurrying around the car as Aqua turned off the car. Ven had stood in here countless times in the past few months alone; he often came back with Terra and Aqua, only to fall asleep on the couch or on Terra’s bed, curling up to Terra during the one time he could claim sleep as his excuse for the way he held on tight.

Aqua stepped out of the car. Ven looked back at her as she closed her door and locked it behind her, then looked to Terra. Always, always looking to Terra. This time, as always, Terra was looking back at him, too. When their eyes met, Terra smiled and leaned down. Ven felt Terra’s lips against his hair, his breath on his ear. “Welcome home, Ven.”

Ven shivered. _Home._

Terra led him to the door. Aqua opened it with her key. They walked inside together, Ven first, then Terra and Aqua. He’d been there countless times before. He told himself this even as he traced the wood of the table by the door. Aqua placed her keys in the glass bowl there, just as she did every time they arrived after school. Today, however. Today. Today it was _his_ entrance, _his_ table by the door. _His_ arrival.

He turned to them, his vision blurry. “I’m sorry I ever left.”

Terra hugged him. Aqua came around them and hugged them both. Ven leaned in and cried.

 _Why_ did he ever leave?

* * *

Aqua was the one to assure Ven he needn’t worry about the mess of food in the car or about getting his things from his apartment. The two of them told him to make himself at home. Terra, however, was the one to insist on taking the car and doing the work. “I’ll clean the car,” he’d said, “and I’ll get his things. You stay with him. Help him with his homework, start cooking dinner for when Master Eraqus and Roxas get home. Help him feel like this is just another day.”

“Before he flips out and throws something else on you?” she’d asked, her lips twitching.

“Get,” he’d said, and pointed into the house. She’d just laughed.

It was true that his hair still felt a bit gross, and he was only certain his face was clean now because he’d gone to the bathroom and washed himself off. He couldn’t even say for sure why Ven had reacted so strangely, other than the fact that Ven had always been a bit of an airhead. He would _like_ to think it was because of his charms, but he was pretty certain – and Aqua was always happy to confirm – that he had none. “Don’t worry, though,” Aqua would always say, “you can woo anyone with that smile.”

What worried him was the thought that Ven’s oddities were a result of whatever Vanitas had done to him. No matter what Ven said, somebody who caused that kind of response was not to be trusted.

He grabbed up Ven’s things as quickly as he could; for someone who had been living on his own for two years, his apartment hardly looked lived in. He knew Ven spent so much time with them most days that he might as well have still lived with them, and he knew Ven didn’t ever offer them his place to visit – “it’s too small,” would always be Ven’s response – but he would never have guessed just how empty the place was.

He’d gone to buy a few boxes, but he’d only needed two to empty out the entire place, with a third used solely for stashing what little food was in Ven’s fridge – food that looked exactly like the kinds they bought at home.

Ven had clearly never considered this place his home, had clearly preferred to spend his time with them at the estate. So why _had_ he left?

He returned to the house, carrying in the first two boxes and balancing the dirty towels he’d used to clean the car on top of them. He’d barely entered before Aqua was running toward him, stirring spoon in one hand, the other up to her lips. “He fell asleep after I told him to check his room. I think whatever happened to him tired him out.”

Terra looked toward the stairway. Ven sleeping was probably best. Whatever had happened to his mind, it likely needed time to sort itself out. He looked back at Aqua. “All right.” He watched her head for the door and frowned. “There’s no need for you to help. He didn’t have much.”

Aqua waved him off. “I’m not going to watch you carry in boxes while I cook. I can help.”

“There’s only one box left, and it’s just food.”

Aqua paused at that news. She turned back to him, her muscles stiff. “What?”

“The futon he used is still there, and his nightstand, chair, and dinner table. But he didn’t have anything else. The place hardly looked lived in, Aqua. Like he’d just used it as a front.”

She walked slowly to the stove. Nothing sat there; the only thing that seemed to be cooking was some rice. Still, she stood there, spoon in hand, as if she was going to do something. Not knowing how to fill the silence, Terra just placed the boxes down beside the stairs and went back out to get the last one.

* * *

“You’ll pay for what you’ve done to these children. Now get out.” Dad slashed the air with his hand. A centimeter further and it would have sliced at the old man’s nose. “Honey, get the phone.”

His mom raced off toward the couch in the living room. Ven’s dad got into the older man’s face. “You’re going to wish you’d never met our kids.”

The older man just smiled. “Of course.” Then, suddenly, his gaze turned to stare directly into Ven’s eyes. “Ah. Here’s the true interloper.”

“What?” Ven’s dad looked, as well. He jumped at the sight of Ven before him. “Ven! Quick, go back to bed.”

“That’s right.” The old man smiled, and Ven found he couldn’t look away. His heart slowed. His breath stilled in his chest. “Hide al͚̯̫͢o̖̮̩͜ṉ̢̣̫ȩ̳͎̥̱ a̮͕̟̝͜n̡͍̭͖d̟̮͈͓͕̮̮͚̩̖̯̖͢ f̢̥̤͈̙̠̖̜̣ͅo̡͚̯̫̳̳̦̱̯̣͔̝ͅr̨͍̮̰̮g͍̖͕͙͜ȩ͍̠͉͕̙̗͍̰ṱ̨̦̩̩͎̩̳̝͍̜͖.̧̤̣̟͙̱͖̜̠ͅ M̬̳͕̭̩̞̗̪̫̲̳̲͂͆̍̑͗̏ȧ̭̣͔͚̐̉̅̇̍͊̀ͅy̱̫̪̩̮̬͉͔͉͐̎̓̾͋̃̌̾́̄̌b̫͇̫͙̠̖̥͕̰̄͗̆̒̒e͇̮̣͇͚͖͉̭̮͆̂͗̈͂̀̅̾͊ t͚̲͇̩͖̤̫̫́̋̄̾͋̊͑h͔̬̳͍̯̜̙̮̠̘̠̠̊͌͗e̯̜̗̬͊̓̍͒͆̊͋͆͊̽͐n̲͖̝͖̊̒̈̅͆̌͋̿ ÿ͈̮̖͍̥͈̰̅̂͂ö̭͇̞͍̫͈̜̪͍̯͆̂̒̄͑́͛̿̌ṷ̦̰̞͔̩̄͂͋̎͊̅'͓͉̪͙͓͕̭̗̱̬͚̫̇̿́̍͊̚l͔̱̖̮͎̱̗̜͙̘̽͛̈́̋̆͛͆ͅl̞͚̙͈̯̓̊̾ͅ b͔͈̠͔͔̭̰̳̫̯̉̄̉̋̄͋̈̽ė͔̘̜̪͍͈̩̝̗̄͐̊̎̒̒͆ͅ f̜͖͖͈͓̙͈̥͛̿͑͗o͍̪͈̯͙͒̽̓͂̅ͅȑ̩̩̖͖͇̙͍̘̗̿̐́̋͂̌̓̈́͊̽g̮͈͇͉̤͕̱̮̲͙̬̓̑̄̎̈́̽i͚̜̪̘̒͊͋̓̈́̿̏v͔͕̮͉͎̬̖̪̤̏̂̊ḙ̲͚̣͙͕͍̓̎̎̄́͊͊̈́̽̽͛̋n̯̘̙͕̦̖͈̣̣͚̝̾͂͗̎ͅ.̣̜̝̠̌̆̄͑͋̂̃̃̐̈͛

Ven’s eyes snapped open.

Warmth centered on his left. He recognized the room so easily it left him momentarily lost. He recognized the warm brown of the walls, the line of the telescope behind his head, the tall bureau with its bottles and the long, creeping vine of a plant that someone had clearly cared for in his absence.

He knew this room, and yet the very fact of its familiarity was what startled him from his sleepiness.

The feel of a person against his skin was something else; _that_ he felt regularly, as he snuggled into Terra’s warmth. He turned, thinking to do the same, when he realized the warmth was smaller than usual. Aqua?

He blinked. A mirror?

“Oh!” he gasped, jerking a bit. The warmth had been Roxas, curled near the end of the bed. A chair had been pulled beside the bed, and from the contorted way Roxas slept, he’d intended to remain on it, only to give in to the softness of the bed and settle down. Now, however, Roxas woke with a jerk of his own, his eyes wide and luminous even in the darkness. Ven smiled as his brother took in his presence. “Welcome home.”

Roxas sucked in a breath. After a long moment, he nodded. “You, too.” He sat up. Ven did, too, only to have Roxas grab his cheeks. In the darkness, Roxas studied him. “It seems it’s worn off? That’s incredible. According to your friends, the order was given just a few hours ago.”

Ven’s brows furrowed. “What?”

In answer, Roxas stood and stretched. “Come on. It’s late, but I’m sure the others are still awake. I promised to explain everything once you woke up.”

Ven tilted his head, but he got up. One look at his old alarm clock showed him it was nearing eleven. He frowned. He had slept so long. He’d done it a number of times, but he’d always thought it had been some reaction to loneliness; it had only ever happened while he’d been living alone. Maybe he’d been more exhausted by the day’s events than he’d thought?

He followed Roxas out into the hall, squinting as he made his way to the stairs. “Which room is yours?” he asked. He knew the others’ - Master Eraqus had the main suite on the third floor, safely away from the rambunctious children below him. Aqua had the first room upon leaving the stairs, and Terra the one across from Ventus’, one room closer to the stairs. The moment Roxas pointed to the room beside his, he hopped on his feet and clapped his hands. “Yes!”

The reaction seemed to startle Roxas a bit. He ducked his head and smiled. “You don’t mind that I’m cutting into your family like this?”

“What are you saying?” Roxas stopped just as they reached the stairs. “You _are_ family! This is the best! I really love these guys, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy you’re here! I never thought any of my original family might still be alive. I meant it when I said I’m glad you found me.”

He’d said it before, but Roxas still ducked his head and smiled as if hearing it for the first time. He covered it up with a wide shrug. “Well, I guess it came in handy, considering.” At Ven’s confused look, Roxas just gestured down the stairs. “Shall we?”

He hadn’t been wrong; there in the living room sat the full family, Master Eraqus in his usual chair, Aqua and Terra staring mindlessly at the TV from the couch. All three turned at the sound of their approach. Terra and Aqua jumped to their feet when they saw him. “Ven!”

He rubbed the back of his head and gave a crooked grin. “Sorry, guys,” he said. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.”

Terra grabbed his shoulder, checked his still-bruised cheek. “You’re sure you’re all right?” He didn’t wait for an answer, instead tilting Ven’s head in several directions before finally rubbing it like always.

Aqua was right behind him, hovering like he’d just fallen off his bike or something. Master Eraqus watched it all with a slight smile. “It’s good to see you’ve awakened without a problem,” he said, still sitting in his chair.

Ven looked over at him and nodded. “Yeah! Of course.”

He looked to Roxas, ready to warn him a bit belatedly about how the family tended to worry in excess, only to see a hard look in his gaze. Roxas’ crossed his arms. “I shouldn’t have put it off,” he said. “I should have known he wouldn’t just leave you alone.”

Ven tilted his head. “Huh?”

“Don’t give me your puppy looks,” Roxas said, the words coming out so smoothly they seemed natural. Something pinged in the darkness of Ven’s memories before Roxas grimaced. “Uh. I mean… sit down.” He gestured to the couch. Ven opened his mouth to argue, only for Terra and Aqua to usher him over and sandwich him between them. He frowned at them. “I didn’t trust you guys, but you saved him, so…” Roxas took a deep breath. “All right. First, the basic stuff.”

Ven looked between them all. Even Master Eraqus was letting this happen, simply sitting with his arms on the armrests of his chair and watching as Roxas started pacing in front of the TV. Aqua reached over for the remote and clicked the TV off. Static snapped between the machine and Roxas as he passed it. “What’s going on?” Ven asked. He was ignored.

“What happened to Ven today is because of his conditioning.” Roxas’s lips curled into something akin to when they’d been in the office, as if he was ready to fight. “When we were in grade school, our class was selected by the school board – so we thought – to participate in a training program. Our class was one of the higher scoring classes in the district, so we didn’t really think anything of it. Our parents were thrilled. At first.”

Ven didn’t understand. He raised his hand like he was in class. “What are you talking about? What happened to me?”

Roxas waved his hand down. “Shush. I’ll get to that, trust me.” He ran a hand through his hair and stopped. “We were only ever visited by one person. One of the school board’s leaders. Mr. Xehanort.”

Master Eraqus stiffened in his seat, but he didn’t say anything. Ven turned to Terra. “Do we know him?”

“He came here shortly after you were adopted by Master Eraqus,” Terra murmured. His teeth were gritted. His hands were fists in his lap. Still, when he turned and saw Ven’s face, he tried on a grimace of a smile and wrapped one arm around him. “You know him. He’s old, dark-skinned, has a hunch?”

Ven had no idea who he was talking about. He nodded, anyway, because that’s what was clearly expected.

“He sat each of us down individually, coming in every day for several of us.” Roxas scrubbed his face and started pacing again. “We didn’t know it, but he was – well, we still don’t know exactly how we did it. Those days spent with Mr. – with _Xehanort the Bastard_ – are fuzzy. At least, from everything I and the couple other kids I’ve found remember.”

Ven looked around. He still didn’t understand, but everyone else seemed to. He ducked his head down and kept quiet.

“I know this must seem a cruel question,” Aqua said, “but why didn’t you and those other children report it? Were you afraid you would be attacked like your parents?”

“Some kids were afraid of that, especially after the fire. Me? I thought my parents were dead. I knew my brother was missing, maybe trapped with Xehanort. I told everyone who would listen. Unfortunately,” he said, stopping again, his hands sliding from his face to bunch into fists, “my conditioning was specifically about not knowing fantasy from reality. I was locked up in a loony bin.”

Ven gasped.

Roxas waved that away, too. “The only good thing about it is that so many idiots kept asking me the same damn question – the same conditioned question, the one that made me start struggling to separate fiction from reality – I started finding ways around it. It’s still there.” He tapped at his head. “But at least now I can say with certainty that, even if I’m trapped thinking this world is a computer simulation, I know, somewhere in my mind, that it’s not.”

“That’s _awful_ ,” Ven said. He leaned forward, leaving the heat of Terra’s presence to reach out to his brother. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. If I would have, I would have gone looking for you. I swear it.”

Roxas took Ven’s hand, squeezed it, and let go. “I know. I kept saying your name, so they thought it was mine. They thought I was Ventus – the one confirmed to have survived the fire – and apparently no one double-checked to see if the kid this guy adopted and the kid in the loony bin were actually the same person. Idiots.”

Aqua nodded. Master Eraqus’ lips thinned. “Hence why it took them so long to realize the one _he_ had adopted wasn’t, in fact, deceased.”

Ven frowned. “What?”

“The bastard went through the first stages of adoption with me!” Roxas said, his body nearly vibrating in front of them all. “That’s why Eraqus wasn’t able to start doing that same thing today – something you didn’t yet know, Ven, sorry. Because _that bastard_ has already put through paperwork to take me as his. As if I would be caught dead with him!”

“There must be something we can do,” Aqua said, a voice of calm within the sudden storm. “You’re almost sixteen. He can’t have been able to complete the process while you were supposedly deceased.”

“We can fight for the right to adopt him,” Eraqus said. “With Ven, we may even have the advantage. But Xehanort is still a respected member of the community, since the charges against him had gone no farther than some small paperwork. We would be in a long fight. In the meantime, Roxas would be stuck in limbo.”

“So we take the fight to Xehanort,” Terra said. He looked to Master Eraqus. “We bring up a lawsuit ourselves. That should do _something_ , shouldn’t it?”

“With what?” Roxas said. They all turned back to him. His hands fell to his sides. His shoulders slumped. “I’m considered crazy. My allegations against Xehanort were all written down as delusions from my false world, carrying the torch for my dead parents. And Ven’s been programmed to forget.”

Ven’s brows scrunched. “What?”

“Sorry, Ven. Geez. All of this must be really confusing, huh?” Roxas knelt in front of him and took his hands. “Back to the original story, huh?” Another fake smile. Ven was starting to dislike them. A lot. “So our parents found out. They triggered me and freaked out – understandably, considering what triggering me causes.” Roxas shrugged. “When I came out of it, they asked me what happened and set up the – well, that was another reason why no one took it seriously, I guess. Anything I say is suspect in the eyes of the world now.”

Ventus gripped Roxas’ hands tight. “I believe you!” he said. “I know you’re telling the truth!”

Roxas huffed. “Of course you do, you dweeb. You haven’t changed.” Roxas rubbed his thumbs over Ven’s hands. He stared at Ven’s knuckles. “I’m not just telling you all this for my health, Ven. I’m telling it to you for yours. Like I said, you’ve been conditioned, too.” He looked back up. “Do you remember what happened this afternoon? Do you remember talking with some asshole bully in school?”

“Vanitas?” Ven asked, then winced. “He’s not – I mean, okay, he’s mean. But I think it’s because he’s lonely. I shouldn’t have called him–”

“He triggered you, Ven,” Roxas said, cutting him off. Ven’s brows furrowed. “Do you remember leaving the school? Do you remember walking away?”

Ven thought back. His head throbbed. “No. But I was just trying to get away, right? To…” His mouth moved, forming the word _hide_. For some reason, however, he didn’t say it.

“Exactly.” Roxas gripped his hands, not unlike how he’d done for Roxas just moments before. Terra’s hand touched Ven’s back. They knew, he realized. They already knew what Roxas was telling him. He didn’t understand. What was going on? Why did they all know when he didn’t? “You’ve had multiple triggers given to you. Somehow; I only had one. I don’t know why. And I don’t know why you were given these conditions, or why I was given mine. I thought he was just messing with us, but then why send that kid after you?”

Ven shook his head. He pulled one hand free to touch his temple, trying to soothe the sudden ache. “I don’t understand,” he said, feeling like the words had become his mantra. “What conditioning? What…?”

“It’s all right,” Roxas said. He reached up, too, and massaged at Ven’s temple. Ven dropped his hand and let him. Aqua placed her hand on his head. Surrounded by his loved ones, he didn’t feel as alone as he might have otherwise. “I know it’s scary, but there’s good news, too.”

“How?” Ven asked. His voice sounded hollow. He reached over and grabbed Terra’s leg. Terra placed his free hand over Ven’s. Another anchor. “I don’t… I don’t remember, Roxas. You’re right. I don’t remember.”

“I know. It’s part of your conditioning.”

Aqua made a hissing noise. “So when Vanitas said fo–”

“Don’t say it!” Roxas snapped. It was so loud, so sudden. Ven jumped a mile high. “Sorry, sorry,” he soothed. Then, “Don’t say it. You’ll trigger it all over again. A single word, a simple phrase. Something not too out of the ordinary, but not too common. Enough that a person could say it in public and it no one would think twice about it. Those are our triggers.”

“How do we fight that?” Terra whispered.

“You already have.” Roxas shifted, wincing. His feet must have been falling asleep. “Ven, the others said you snapped out of it within minutes. That you came back to yourself on the sidewalk. Do you remember?”

He thought past the ache in his head. He couldn’t see that afternoon all that clearly. It had only happened a few hours ago, yet looking back felt like he was staring through dark water. He sucked in an unsteady breath. “I remember Terra. He was… sad? He said my name.” He looked over to Terra. “I felt you hugging me.”

Everyone but Roxas turned to Terra. He didn’t seem to know how to take Ven’s words, whether he should go wide-eyed or smile. He looked trapped in a horror rictus of both. Roxas, however, just kept talking. “I thought so. We can fight our conditioning by thinking about something more important. To me, it didn’t matter if life was real or fake. What mattered was getting back at Xehanort and finding you.”

Ven’s brows scrunched. “How did you know I was alive? Why didn’t you just think I died?”

“I was alive _because_ you were alive. When the fire started, Mom told us to run. She accidentally triggered you, and you left. She begged me to follow you, to find you and keep you safe.” Roxas crossed his legs and sat down. In order to keep a hold of his hand, Ven was forced to lean awkwardly forward. “So I knew you were alive. I needed to find you. Thinking that helped me push through the conditioning. It’s the same for you, right? No matter how many times someone tells you to – to,” he thought for a moment, “to run and disappear somewhere without anyone else and not remember anything, you still want to be with these people. Right?”

Ven opened his mouth, ready to admit to still not understanding, when he stopped. He thought about it. He couldn’t remember whatever had been said to him, but Roxas had just said that ‘not remembering’ was part of his conditioning. So.. forgetting? He looked over to Aqua, to Master Eraqus. To Terra. He didn’t _want_ to forget. He looked at Roxas. He’d forgotten his twin brother. His parents. Had he been forced to? Would he, at one point, also forget about Master Eraqus and Aqua and Terra?

Tears filled his eyes. No! He didn’t want that! “I don’t want to lose you!” he said. His hands held onto Roxas and Terra like lifelines. Roxas winced at the hold. Terra just squeezed tight back. “I don’t want to forget!”

“Ven, no!”

He could feel it. He could feel his mind blanking. His vision dimmed.

Warmth wrapped him up. He breathed deep the scents of soil and moonlight and sweat. He shuddered. “I’m right here,” Terra said. “I’m right here. Don’t leave. Don’t go.”

He breathed. A hand held his, gripping tightly, repeating a single sentence – “you can control this, Ven, you _can_ ” – while another simply played with the hairs on the top of his head. He groaned. “That’s it!” Roxas said. Roxas. The voice was Roxas. “You didn’t give yourself any specific commands. You can still fight against it. Think of something else to not remember. The color of the shirt Terra’s wearing!” Then, “there you go. Just like that. That’s right. Come back.”

He blinked. He couldn’t see anything; there was a dark blue color in front of him that he didn’t recognize. The feel of heat encasing him, however, told him what was happening before anything else. “Terra.” He snuggled close for a moment more before pulling away. Everyone took one, long look at him and sighed. “Roxas. Everyone.” He looked at Aqua, at the stiff way she held herself still as she tried to remain calm, and Master Eraqus, who had leaned forward, fingers clenched on the edge of the armrests, his gaze sharp as he took in Ven and Terra together. He blushed and looked back to his brother. “I…”

“It’s all right,” Roxas and Terra said at the same time. They shared a look. “It really is,” Roxas said, turning back to him. “Yes, that’s one of the words used on you. Mom said it after telling us to run and – well, the other word for you. H. I. D. E,” he said, spelling it out instead of saying it. Ven shivered. “It looks like you already have a way to fight against it, which is good. It’s very good, Ven.”

He looked around. He’d just been thinking that, even though his world had expanded, it had seemed amazing and beautiful. Suddenly it seemed dark, and treacherous, and terrifying. “How many times has that happened?” he asked. No one knew how to answer. He stared down at his lap. “You said Vanitas did it? But he’s been bullying me for…” He paled.

Of all people, the one to speak then was Eraqus. “For two years?” Ven snapped his head up, taking in the thin-lipped expression on Master Eraqus’ face. “It is as I feared. Most likely, Xehanort used the boy to direct you away from me.” Master Eraqus steepled his fingers and leaned back. “I have, after all, kept a very close eye on the children from your class. I had a feeling something like this had happened.”

Roxas let go of Ven’s hand and surged to his feet. “Then why haven’t you come forward?”

“Because,” Master Eraqus said, his voice calm. Ven shivered. Terra wrapped his arms around him. Aqua hugged him. Still, between their warmth, he couldn’t stop shivering. “I have no evidence. Only conjecture. Going forward without more would have only put the lives and Ventus and the other children in jeopardy.”

“Is that why you adopted me?” Ven asked. He didn’t look up, but he felt every eye turn to him. “Is that why you took me in?”

“It is.” Ven flinched. Terra turned on the man.

“Master Eraqus!”

“It is,” he said again. Ven covered his ears, but he still heard him. “Ventus had no one. I was afraid – rightly so, seeing what has happened with Roxas – that Xehanort would use it as an opportunity to take him as his own. If that were to happen, who knows what would have become of him.”

It was logical. Logical, and yet not the reason Ven wanted to hear. He didn’t even know why. “So I’m not family?”

“You are,” Terra said, his voice brooking no argument. When Ven looked up, it was to find Terra glaring at the master. “No matter what, you are a part of us, just as we’re a part of you.”

“He’s right.” Aqua pet his hair. “You’re my little brother. Whatever the reason for you to be brought into our home, you’re still my precious, little brother, whom I love very much.”

He touched his chest. All right. The warm feeling in his heart made him certain he could live with that. He chanced a glance at Terra. The angle was awkward, held so close to Terra’s chest as he was. He didn’t know if he wanted Terra to be _family_. At least, not family like that. But Terra had just said he was. Didn’t that mean he’d been reading too much into everything? It was ridiculous to be worried about something so silly when everything had crumbled into dust, but he found the pain of it niggling into him nonetheless. Selfishly, his heart still wanted more.

“Of course you’re family,” Master Eraqus said, waving the words away. “My reasons may have initially been to protect you, Ventus, but you are my son now. That alone is enough of a reason to want to keep you safe and happy.”

He shouldn’t be selfish. He had so much already. He nodded, ignoring the tears falling down his face. He’d gotten lucky. He looked up. With one hand, he yanked on Roxas’ shirt. Roxas yelped. He spilled onto the couch. With a watery laugh, Ven pulled him in close. “I finally have everyone with me again,” he said. “We’ll be okay if we’re together. Right?”

“Right,” Aqua said. Terra echoed her.

Roxas flailed a bit, having fallen half on Ven and half on Aqua. She giggled and helped push Roxas into some semblance of sitting up. His twin brother looked around, then pushed Ven’s head away with a snort. “Sure, you little jerk.”

“I’m the same height as you!”

“As if!”

“For now,” Master Eraqus said, breaking through the growing chaos, “I want all of you to stick together and watch each other closely. Conjecture or not, I now have another to protect.” He stood. “Ventus, Roxas. Aqua left some food in the fridge for the both of you. You should eat, but don’t let it spoil you into staying up too late. Terra, Aqua. I will need the both of you to help out around the house. I am going to lead an investigation into Xehanort. I doubt I will be spending many days at home.”

“I’m staying,” Roxas said.

“Of course you are.” Aqua stood up. “I’ll heat up your food for you.”

Ven watched as everyone got up and moved around, the world breaking up into a false semblance of normalcy. His stomach flipped. He looked again to Terra. He had yet to let him go.

Ven had a wild, mad, utterly insane idea. He chewed his lip. Better not to say it. No one would like it. Everyone would not only disapprove, but would try to keep him from doing it.

Tomorrow, he was going to go to class. And he was going to talk to Vanitas.


	5. Surely Every Teenager Has An Evil, Geriatric Madman After Them

“Ventus, run!”

It was hot. Everything was hot and red and on fire. Roxas was right beside him, his hand wrapped over Ven’s head, ducking him down as though he didn’t know how to avoid the smoke. He mother grabbed their arms and yanked them toward the window. It was high up. Mom had always told him to never, _ever_ jump out of it, no matter how many times Roxas did it. His mom turned his face to her. She coughed and coughed. “You have to run, baby. Go h̛̃̔̀i̿̓͞d̛̒͑̀̓e҇̄̀ somewhere and wait for us, okay? Only us, all right?”

“ _That’s right.” The old man smiled, and Ven found he couldn’t look away from those bright, yellow eyes._

His heart slowed. His breath stilled in his chest.

“D̢̤̙̭o̰͉̫̫̪͢n̢͚̜ͅ'̮͖͢t̳̰̙͚͢ f̢̥̤͈̙̠̖̜̣ͅo̡͚̯̫̳̳̦̱̯̣͔̝ͅr̨͍̮̰̮g͍̖͕͙͜ȩ͍̠͉͕̙̗͍̰ṱ̨̦̩̩͎̩̳̝͍̜͖ t̨͇͕͔͓͔̮͎̯̘̯͚ͅḩ̝̝̥̟͙͖̣̭͍̯͈̱a̧̳͇͇͎͙ṭ̡̘̲̞̣.̧̘͔̮͍̗͕͉̬̙ͅ _Only_ us. No one else! You’ll be in a lot of trouble if you go with anyone else, okay?”

“But Mom,” Roxas said, “what about you?”

“I need to get your father, so you two need to stick together. All right?”

“ _Hide al͚̯̫͢o̖̮̩͜ṉ̢̣̫ȩ̳͎̥̱ a̮͕̟̝͜n̡͍̭͖d̟̮͈͓͕̮̮͚̩̖̯̖͢ f̢̥̤͈̙̠̖̜̣ͅo̡͚̯̫̳̳̦̱̯̣͔̝ͅr̨͍̮̰̮g͍̖͕͙͜ȩ͍̠͉͕̙̗͍̰ṱ̨̦̩̩͎̩̳̝͍̜͖.̧̤̣̟͙̱͖̜̠ͅ”_

His mouth moved. All he could remember was his mouth moving. There was more talking. More… but none of it mattered. Even when the talking got louder. Even when the hand on his head moved to his shoulder and shook him.

“Hm? What, Ventus?” The woman in front of him leaned closer, then, “Ḟ̮̬̲͙͓̇̋̐̉̽̈ő̟̗̜̦͇̠͇͇̑͋͋̄̉̐̈ͅr͉̭͉̟̲͚͖̋̋̑̑g͉̳̲̗͛̓̋̆̓͂ĭ̜̮̪̲͈͓̜̗̎̄͑̚v̬͉͙͙̞̠̅͐̂̐̉̃̃͋̂̚e͍̰͉̮̦̙̬͙͐̅̍͛̾n̰̠̳͍͇̩̣͈̝͔͍̿͛̋̾͆̆̔͗̄̉͂̚?̯͇̰͇͙͖̈͐͛̽͊̚ M̜͚̞̝͍͈̮̓͌͗̌̀͗̽͗â̯͎͚̲̞͔͎̱͍̤̽͂͋ͅỵ͖̪̇̀̂̾̈́̔̿ͅb̦͙͎̫͕͓̯̫̂̃̋̊̈́̎͛e̖͓̮̠̓̆̌̓̌͑̎̎̒͗?̫̫̟͈̫̰̬̳̥̯̣̏̅̀̂͑ If you see any cops and talk to them, y͈͚̝̯̮̞̪̮̠̝͗͋̋̅́̌̄ͅo͎͉̣̥̤͔̖̘͚͊̋͌̈̉̚u̳̲̦͓̯̬̤̯͎̣̠͓̔̃͐̑͌͊̓͗̈́̂͑̉̂̒͋'͚͈͎̖̟̤̣̦͎̳͙̤͔̭̋͂͋͋͗͆̈́͂̆͑̓̈ľ̞͎͓̲͇͔̂͋̋̏́͐͋͂͑̅̓̃̆l͔̬̭̜̪̮̜̘̥̳̬̮̠̪̙͊̒̄̐ b̪̱̗̘̟̌̃̓̆̎ȅ̲̠̟̬̬͔̭̥̫̥̟̰̟̣̰̥̎̋̓̅͊̅͗̂̔̏̇͆́ f͇͈̗͎̞̣͕͓̦͕͊̔̍̎õ̝̰̝̤̰̫͉͉̬̦̎̊̀͛̓̅̔̾̇̾͗̂͑r̲̰̤̥͉̂͑̐͆̿͂̅g̲̪̟͙͆̐̔̚ͅi̮͎̟͇̣͎̯̫̮̰̥̥̥̅͒͋̅̽v͇͕̤̖̬͉̳͙̬͚̝̇͗̈́̂̇̓ë̙̫̯̗͈̭͚͕̪̳̗̒̐͛̐̋̃̅̓͆̊̊̈́̀̋̚ͅͅṇ͚̬͙̅̆̑͊̓̓͛̀̒͌̋̓͊̚ for talking to someone else. But no one besides – what are you…? Ventus! Ventus!”

_M̬̳͕̭̩̞̗̪̫̲̳̲͂͆̍̑͗̏ȧ̭̣͔͚̐̉̅̇̍͊̀ͅy̱̫̪̩̮̬͉͔͉͐̎̓̾͋̃̌̾́̄̌b̫͇̫͙̠̖̥͕̰̄͗̆̒̒e͇̮̣͇͚͖͉̭̮͆̂͗̈͂̀̅̾͊ t͚̲͇̩͖̤̫̫́̋̄̾͋̊͑h͔̬̳͍̯̜̙̮̠̘̠̠̊͌͗e̯̜̗̬͊̓̍͒͆̊͋͆͊̽͐n̲͖̝͖̊̒̈̅͆̌͋̿ ÿ͈̮̖͍̥͈̰̅̂͂ö̭͇̞͍̫͈̜̪͍̯͆̂̒̄͑́͛̿̌ṷ̦̰̞͔̩̄͂͋̎͊̅'͓͉̪͙͓͕̭̗̱̬͚̫̇̿́̍͊̚l͔̱̖̮͎̱̗̜͙̘̽͛̈́̋̆͛͆ͅl̞͚̙͈̯̓̊̾ͅ b͔͈̠͔͔̭̰̳̫̯̉̄̉̋̄͋̈̽ė͔̘̜̪͍͈̩̝̗̄͐̊̎̒̒͆ͅ f̜͖͖͈͓̙͈̥͛̿͑͗o͍̪͈̯͙͒̽̓͂̅ͅȑ̩̩̖͖͇̙͍̘̗̿̐́̋͂̌̓̈́͊̽g̮͈͇͉̤͕̱̮̲͙̬̓̑̄̎̈́̽i͚̜̪̘̒͊͋̓̈́̿̏v͔͕̮͉͎̬̖̪̤̏̂̊ḙ̲͚̣͙͕͍̓̎̎̄́͊͊̈́̽̽͛̋n̯̘̙͕̦̖͈̣̣͚̝̾͂͗̎ͅ.̣̜̝̠̌̆̄͑͋̂̃̃̐̈͛_

* * *

Saturday rose to the sound of Terra and Roxas returning from Terra’s usual jog. He’d been awakened by Roxas, who had actually, physically asked Ven if he wanted to get up and head out with them. Ven had answered by pulling his pillow over his head.

His alarm clock sounded different than the one he’d listened to for the past two years. For several seconds, he thought it had to be someone else’s. Who else lived in his apartment? Didn’t matter; they just needed to turn off their alarm.

“Ven?”

It was Roxas. Was that Roxas’ alarm? Why was it going off when he’d gone off on some harebrained scheme like running before dawn? Would Ven actually have to get up and turn it off just because Roxas had decided to go jog before the crickets even went to sleep?

“Ven, hey!” Footsteps. Ven cracked an eye open. Oh. See! Roxas was awake! Then why – oh.

He jolted up from his bed.

Roxas turned off his alarm. “Did you just turn this thing on automatically?” He laughed. “You idiot. You really haven’t changed.”

“Wait! That’s not…” He kicked his covers off and rolled out of bed. “No, no. I’m going to school.”

Roxas made a strange choking noise behind him. “What?! Why? Dude, we have off. For ‘as long as we need.’ Remember that? It’s the best part of all this nonsense.”

Ven grinned. Somehow, it didn’t surprise him that Roxas wasn’t big on the idea of school. “But Aqua and Terra will suffer if they don’t go. Aqua’s in charge of the whole student council. She can’t be chasing after me. Besides.” He looked around, only to remember that he’d thrown his uniform over the back of the very same chair Roxas had scooted over to the bed last night. He looked at the wrinkled mess and sighed. Whatever. It would have to do. “I want – no. I _need_ something normal.” He threw off his pajamas and started getting dressed. “With everything getting so weird, I feel like school will be the only sane place left.”

Roxas ran a hand through his hair. When Ven moved to the dresser to grab his brush, Roxas dogged his steps. “But that bully is there. What do you think he’s going to do, leave you alone?”

Ven really hoped not, considering his goal was to get ‘that bully’ to talk to him. “I’ll be fine, Roxas. Really.”

Roxas didn’t let it go, even as Ven left the room to get dressed and brush his teeth – a spare toothbrush had sat in the house from the moment he’d moved out – and even as he walked down the stairs to grab some breakfast and make his lunch. At that point, Ven had started tuning Roxas’ arguments out – a fairly easy job, considering his voice was so similar to his own – until, suddenly, Roxas shouted, “Terra! Talk some sense into this idiot!”

Ven looked past the stairway to the kitchen, only to find Aqua and Terra talking as Aqua flipped some eggs in a pan. Both looked their way. Whatever expressions they wore was lost on Ven, who pointed at them both. “See? They’re wearing their school clothes, too! It’s not just me!”

“ _You’re_ the one with the conditioning who’s being targeted!” Roxas said, waving his arms around as Ven came to stand before Terra. He grinned up at him.

“Good morning.” He looked over to Aqua. “Good morning, Aqua.”

Despite the fact that both of them were also in uniform, however, they acted as if _him_ being in uniform was weird. “Wait. You’re going to school?” Terra left off whatever conversation he’d been in the middle of and put one hand on Ven’s shoulder. “Are you sure? I won’t be able to be with you. If you get triggered…”

“Exactly!” Roxas said.

“I just need something normal!” he said, close to stomping his foot. He was only trying to help! “Why is that weird?”

Terra considered Ven’s words while Aqua started arguing them. After a few moments, he cut Aqua off. “You’re right.” Terra squeezed his shoulder, then let go. He deliberately moved back to Aqua, grabbing up their bento boxes as if everything was, well. Normal. “It’s not weird at all. After everything, I would want some normalcy, too.”

“It’s still dangerous,” Aqua said, ignoring the boxes to look back at Ven with a frown. “Terra was right when he said we wouldn’t be with you. And I can’t imagine Roxas has been placed into the school yet–”

“I’m going, anyway,” Roxas said, his chin up in that stance Ven already recognized so well. “There’s no way I’m going to let him go on his own!”

“Hey!” Ven got ready to say he could handle himself, only to realize that he’d done so poorly he’d nearly triggered himself. He shut his mouth.

Roxas raised a brow, apparently knowing what Ven was about to say and daring him to say it. Ven stuck out his tongue.

The others talked over Ven, discussing it until they came to a decision. Terra and Aqua would still go to class, but they would take intermittent bathroom breaks to go check on Ven. Roxas, meanwhile, would stay outside the school at the front entrance, since he wouldn’t be allowed in the classrooms. “If he’s triggered,” Aqua said, speaking over Roxas’ protests, “and he needs to h-i-d-e, he’ll have to go unnoticed. The only door that leads to an exit and doesn’t have an alarm is the front one. He’ll use that. You’ll be able to see him.”

From there, they planned out who would take a break when and double-checked with Ven, making sure he understood they would be watching him. He just nodded around his breakfast and let them go on planning things out. Master Eraqus came up from his dojo in the basement around then and, after hearing Ven’s decision, ordered them to call him the instant something seemed off. “Ventus.” Ven swallowed his last bite of food and looked up. “I want you to be careful today. I’m likely going to be with my lawyer all day. Do you understand?”

Master Eraqus was hinting that he wouldn’t be able to come to Ven’s rescue if something were to happen. He needed to get this lawsuit going fast, anyway, or else Roxas might be taken by Xehanort. He nodded. “I’ll be careful,” he said.

As careful as someone could be while talking to the person who could mess with his head.

Aqua drove them all to the school. Roxas was the only odd one out, having simply thrown on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and grabbed a handheld console and some batteries to wile away his time. When they arrived at the school parking lot, however, he still hadn’t pulled the thing out. Instead he scanned the crowd, glaring at literally everyone. Ventus covered his face with his hands. “He’s not out here. He’s never hanging out with others. He’s–”

“He’s right there,” Terra said, pointing at a table in front of the school. Sure enough, Vanitas was sitting in front of the entrance, his head turned toward a girl. Ven gasped.

“Hey! That’s the girl who helped me out the other day!”

Already, Roxas was out of his seatbelt and opening his door. Ven managed a single sound of protest before Roxas slammed the door closed and ran over to Vanitas.

“Great,” Aqua said. She hadn’t even put the car into park yet. Ven scrambled to open his own door, forgetting, in his haste, to take off his seatbelt. “Ven!”

He unhooked himself and pushed open the door. “Ven, wait!” Terra called. He didn’t. He saw his twin, already so far ahead of him, nearly to the table, and rushed forward. “Ven!”

“You!” Roxas shouted, beelining past the other students. He stopped only when he stood beside the table at which Vanitas sat. “Vanitas!”

Vanitas looked up. The girl turned, as well, but her gaze quickly moved to Ventus, coming up behind his brother. She twisted in her seat until – until she was shielding Vanitas? “Roxas, wait!”

“You think getting triggered is funny, you little shit?” Roxas moved around the girl. Vanitas stood up slowly, barely bothering to look Roxas in the eye. “Let’s see how much you feel like bothering Ven after I beat you black and blue!”

“Naw.” Vanitas smirked. Ven looked from him to the girl, taking in the scrunched brows and the unhappy frown. When he looked back at Vanitas, it was to see one hand still trailing along the top of the table. Usually he’d have his arms crossed, his fist out, his chest out. Now the only thing that was familiar was that cocked head. “Venny’s little babysitter here to protect him?” He changed every other consonant to a ‘w,’ clearly trying to rile Roxas up. It worked. “Are his two bodyguards not enough anymore?”

Roxas grabbed Vanitas by his uniform collar and hauled him forward. The girl jumped up from her seat.

Vanitas winced.

“Roxas, stop!” Ven grabbed Roxas’ arm as he raised it in a fist. Students started piling around them, muttering to each other. Ven ignored them and dug in his heels. “Leave him alone! Can’t you see he’s already hurt?”

“What?”

Everything just kind of stilled. The girl froze halfway up from her seat, Vanitas stiffened like Ven had insulted his mother, and Roxas just kind of… crumpled. He looked Vanitas over again, taking in the way he bent a bit at the waist, the way his fingers shook where they lifted from the table. The stumble as Roxas let him go and he tried to stand on his own. Vanitas clenched his teeth and fists both as he straightened his back. “Watch it, you little–”

“It was Xehanort, wasn’t it?” The flinch Vanitas gave answered Ven’s question better than any words could have. “He hurt you.”

“What – so you aren’t working for him? What the hell?” Roxas relaxed his stance. Slowly, Ven let go of him. The moment he did, the girl jolted up from her seat and grabbed Vanitas’ arm. They exchanged nothing more than a single glance before Vanitas tsked. He looked away, then he, too, relaxed. “Why are you hurting Ven, then?”

Ven looked at Vanitas’ hands. Relaxed from their fists, they were beginning to shake again.

“It’s okay,” the girl said. Her voice was quiet, lilted. But, Ven realized, strong. “You don’t have to anymore, right?”

Vanitas opened his mouth. “I… am his shadow,” he whispered. His face contorted at the words.

On a hunch, Ven walked forward. The words were strange. Who would say that? Who would ever say that about themselves? No one would. Not unless they’d been taught to.

The girl tugged his arm. “But you haven’t been ordered to do anything to one of them. Right?” She looked past Ven toward Roxas. “You haven’t been given any orders about him?”

Orders. Ven looked back. The other students were crowding around. He heard a teacher calling for order. Heard the first bell of the day, calling for students to start heading to class. Just past the thinnest group of people was Terra, his hair standing up in the crowd. Aqua couldn’t be far behind.

He looked at Roxas. The look on his brother’s face had to reflect his own; a dawning sort of recognition. A horrible, horrible recognition.

Why hadn’t they thought that a kid raised by Xehanort would have also been taught to respond to triggers?

Roxas pushed Ven behind him. Ven stumbled, more because he was surprised there hadn’t been more force. “Move,” Roxas said, and pushed the girl to the side.

Shockingly, Vanitas was the one to respond; he moved until the girl was slightly behind him and got into Roxas’ face. “Touch her again and you won’t have fingers to try a second time.”

“Stop acting tough,” was all Roxas said. He pushed against Vanitas’ chest and watched the boy practically crumple. The girl held him by one arm as he nearly sank to the ground. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You got beaten good, huh?” Vanitas managed a glare, but the way he breathed said he wasn’t going to be able to respond any time soon. “Because what? You didn’t obey well enough?” Roxas snorted. “So now you’re just going to keep playing the game Xehanort wants you to and never stand up for yourself.”

Vanitas snarled. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No? I spent almost four years of my life trapped because of that psycho. All four years, I did nothing but fight to get myself out. And what have you been doing?” Roxas waved a hand, indicating Vanitas’ position, still hunched in like Roxas had hit him with a baseball bat. “You are _never_ going to be free if you let him use you however he sees fit.”

The girl shoved Roxas away. Vanitas hissed her name in warning – Xion. “It’s not that simple!”

“I didn’t say it was!” Roxas snapped. Ven watched as the students parted, making way for… he blanched. For their homeroom teacher and the principal himself. “Gaining your freedom is the hardest thing in the world! But if you don’t fight for it, then you’ll just remain a slave forever!”

“What is going on here?!”

Ven quailed under the crazy-eyed look of their homeroom teacher. “We’re talking,” Roxas said, not missing a beat. He turned to the principal and the homeroom teacher both, staring them down like they were bugs on his shoes. “Do we look like we’re fighting?”

Their homeroom teacher looked from Roxas to Vanitas, slowly standing up straight, his teeth set. He looked back to Roxas. “Yes,” Mr. Vexen said. “That’s exactly what it looks like.”

“We aren’t,” Vanitas said. The girl – Xion – nodded. “Tell these idiots to stop waiting for a show.”

Ven’s brows shot up. The principal and Mr. Vexen stared at them all for a moment longer, but with no one admitting anything and the other students admitting to seeing nothing more than a little push on Roxas’ end, they were forced to break it all up. “You shouldn’t be here. And you, young man,” Mr. Wise said, pointing from Roxas to Vanitas, “I expect to see you in the nurse’s office later. Don’t make me call for you over the intercom.”

Vanitas snarled. “Right.”

That was not the voice of someone who would cooperate. Ventus shifted from foot to foot as he watched Vanitas walk off with the girl. He hadn’t tried anything. He hadn’t said the words. Then again, Ven hadn’t gotten the chance to do anything more than hold Roxas back.

He wasn’t given the chance to do more, either. Terra and Aqua ran up to them, and before anything more could happen, the warning bell rang out. They all had to run to their own places, Terra and Aqua up the stairs, Roxas to the gate to watch and make sure Ven didn’t end up floating away like so much flotsam. He didn’t think he would, though. When the final bell rang, neither Xion nor Vanitas were in their seats.

* * *

Roxas had set himself up beside the front gate, just inside the school grounds so he would see anyone who left through the front door. He sat down and got himself comfortable, but barely had his console open before he heard the crunch of grass. He sprang to his feet, already taking a step in preparation to run, only to stop still. It wasn’t Ven slowly making his way forward, but Vanitas.

He looked worse now than he had when he’d just been sitting down; he bent a bit too much at the waist for it to be anything other than pain, and the girl he’d been with now had to help him move forward. Even as she did, Vanitas grumbled out a barely perceptible, “I’m _fine_.”

He clearly was not fine.

Roxas didn’t want to say he understood, but he did. He’d tried over and over again to prove his sanity to people who would take such moments to be ‘hyperaware hallucinations.’ Nothing he’d said or done had convinced them. He’d been forced to take pill after pill, endure trigger after trigger, until he was finally able to control himself long enough for them to give him a trial run as an out-patient. The expectation that he return even now for day treatment hung like a noose over his head.

He could feel Xehanort’s hand squeezing his metaphorical throat even now. He’d barely gotten out, barely managed to hunt down his brother, and yet his name sat under Xehanort’s, the words ‘Legal Guardian’ burned into his retinas. If it came down to it, he might have to go on the run. And hope no one thought he was still unhinged enough to need to be put back in the white rooms.

He shivered.

Vanitas and the girl had to have noticed him, but neither of them said a word. He sighed. “Skipping school? Really?”

The girl just glared at him. “Sitting outside the school like a psycho?” Vanitas said, grinning as the word made Roxas’ teeth clench. “Really?”

He tried to remember what Ven had revealed just minutes earlier. This guy was a victim, too. Roxas knew all about pushing people away to keep himself safe. “Still hiding, then?” The words wiped the grin from Vanitas’ face. It was a shallow victory; the girl looked ready to jump his throat. “Don’t get pissy with me. You and I both know he’s just going to get beaten again, and triggered again, over and over, until there’s nothing left of him but what Xehanort leaves standing.”

Vanitas grimaced. Neither of them said anything for a long time. The girl still seemed oddly hooked to Vanitas; he wondered if they were together romantically the way Ven _obviously_ wanted to be with Terra. If someone like this loud-mouthed jerk could get with somebody, there was no way the same was beyond Ven.

The girl stepped forward, breaching the gap between them. Vanitas grimaced and glared and acted for all the world like she was about to betray him.

Roxas knew that feeling, too.

“Vanitas is trapped,” she said. Vanitas hissed like an angry cat. The girl looked back. “I’m right, though!”

“It’s not his business, Xion!”

“It’s not,” Roxas agreed, “but it can be.” The idea popped into his head like it had been implanted there. “You’ve been triggered, and you know about others’. You’ve lived with Xehanort. You know the shit he does better than possibly anyone. _And_ you’re his legal ward, right? So you’ve grown up with him.”

Vanitas muttered several expletives. “Shove off, brat. I know _your_ trigger words, too.”

He stiffened. “Coward,” he spat, and hated how his lip trembled. Vanitas lifted his chin. The same move Roxas had when he took a blow head-on. When the words sat and stuck.

“We don’t need to bring those things into this.” Xion sent a single, pleading look toward Vanitas, and he did that same move as before, giving up and letting her have her way. Because, he realized, she was a part of all of this, too. And Vanitas knew that, and he didn’t say or do anything to hurt her. Seeing a vulnerability and choosing to defend it instead of exploit it? It was not the action of a bully.

Roxas wanted to curse. Fine. So Ven was right. Again. Jerk.

“Look.” He switched tactics. He might be willing to pick a fight, but that wouldn’t solve anything. Think like Ventus, he told himself, and tried reaching out a hand. Vanitas took one look at it and scoffed. So he directed his attention to Xion. “We’re all on the losing side. Because we’re pawns. Pawns are the first to get used and tossed away like we don’t even matter.”

The girl bit her lip. Her head dipped down. Vanitas saw and scowled. “Yeah, so? What are you gonna do about it?”

“I’m fighting back.” He dared a step forward. Neither of them ran or looked like they were going to try to deck him. He decided, taking a page from Ven’s book, to take that as a victory. “I’m not gonna hide or run away. And neither should either of you.”

“What the hell do you know?”

“I know enough.” He lowered his hand, tired of holding it out. “And you know it. We’re bringing a lawsuit against him, and we’re getting him the hell out of society. The way things are going, you’re gonna get stuck being the bad guy, the fall guy. He’s gonna say you bullied Ven, that Ven’s trying to blame it on him, but that you’re just a juvenile kid that he took in but couldn’t control.”

Vanitas grimaced. His fists clenched, but not enough to hide their shaking. He knew Roxas was right. “You think you’re going to take him down? You?”

“That’s why you need to fight back, too.” A teacher popped out of the front door, ruining the moment, as usual. “You can run away and pretend you weren’t practically pistol-whipped by the ‘poor, nice old man’ who took you in. You can pretend he hasn’t created you into a tool, a leash to tug when his other little puppies get out of line. Or you can demand to be yourself, on your own terms.”

“I am his shadow.” Vanitas said the words with a strange conviction. The conviction of someone conditioned.

“Yeah, well.” Roxas shrugged and sat back down. “Maybe it’s time you just be yourself.”

He picked up his game console and turned it on, acting for all the world as if he didn’t care what Vanitas decided. Vanitas glared at him for several moments. Finally, he turned around and stomped back over to the teacher.

He breathed a sigh of relief. When Vanitas came back out over an hour later with the principal, Roxas stood up again. The principal was taking him to the hospital. With Vanitas gone, Ven wasn’t in any more danger of being triggered. “I’m coming, too,” he said, and followed them before the principal could make even a token protest.

Vanitas glared at him, but didn’t shoo him away. As they left the school, Vanitas turned that glare out beyond his window. “Thanks,” he mumbled. Roxas didn’t respond. Without a word, he handed Vanitas his console. Vanitas immediately beat his high score.

* * *

Ven caught Terra peeking through the window during first period, then Aqua during second. He kept sending glances over toward Vanitas’ seat. Xion had entered the room several minutes late for first period with a note saying she’d helped Vanitas to the nurse’s station. It had started a rumor mill that Ven had quickly shut down; Terra had _not_ beaten Vanitas up so badly he’d needed to visit the nurse. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder whether Vanitas was all right. He’d looked pretty bad when they’d arrived at school.

The end of the day took forever to arrive, and only came about after Terra and Aqua both checked on him one last time. Ven just pointed at Vanitas’ chair and shrugged. The teacher caught his movements and looked outside the door, but Terra and Aqua had both safely skedaddled before they’d gotten caught. It had been enough to get a few students giggling, however, and had made poor Mr. Luxord about ready to throw something at them. He gave them all extra math homework just to punish them.

By the time the final bell rang, Ven just wanted out. He was exhausted from waiting to see if Vanitas would come back, trying to think of something to say or some note to pass that might get Vanitas to consider helping them in the lawsuit against Xehanort, and generally getting himself wound up with worry over how to accomplish all that without getting his head scrambled. To not have Vanitas even show up made his mind go wonky and all over the place until he just wanted to go home and take a nap.

The other students got up slowly, likely preparing for their extracurricular activities. He took his time putting his things away, thinking that Terra and Aqua would want to meet up with him and walk him out, just in case. Without Vanitas, he couldn’t imagine what would happen, but–

“Ḩ̩͚͙̩̯̳͈i͎͍͚̠̳͎͜d͙̩̳̳̬̝͇͢i̫͙̬̫̰͕̤͢ͅn̨̳̭̙͙̣g̡̮̫͚̮̮̳̝̙ a̠͖͈̠͉͎̙̮̖͇̝͢ͅḽ̡͕̱͔͉͇͔̖ͅo͎̥̱̫̯͍͢n̬̞͓͙̘̪̰̮̲̞̳͢ͅe̢͈͚̗̤ͅͅ without me?”

His bookbag fell to the floor. His gaze caught on the top of his desk. He felt his hands slide down to his sides.

He lifted his head. His teacher was moving to the door – to the person just inside the door, barely enough out of the way for other students to get out. A wrinkled, old man with dark skin and a bent back. The description rang in his mind, but he couldn’t think of why.

“Mr. Xehanort? Why are you here?”

The old man waved Mr. Luxord away. “I stopped by to speak with Ansem; it’s been so long. I’m just taking a trip around to check on the school. Don’t mind me.” Even though he was speaking with Mr. Luxord, the old man’s yellow gaze never faltered from Ven’s. “Where is Vanitas? Did he f͓̠͖͔̘̪̥̞͓̭̱͢o̧͔̲̥̗̮̭̤͓ŗ̣̘͍̣̙̗̝g̢̙͓̳̣͈̮̦̖̠e͚͚͎̬̰̤͉̮͢t̨̗̰̤͈̱̰ ë͔̗̪̩́̇̏́̈́̓͐̃̔ṽ̝̤͚̖̞͕̯̠͖͕͚̰̃̀̒̉̓e͈̳̮̜̰̤̲̰͉͈̩̋̃̌̈͌͂̔̅r͍͔̳̮͙̜͇̐͗̓̓̌̋͗̊ÿ̘͖̤̫͙̙̞̬̘̬͖́̅͋̍͂t̰͚̠̫̖̓̉̏͋̊͑̄̂̀͂̅̚ẖ͈̦̟̖̝͇̓̇́̚i̱̣͎̩̠͚̒͆̆́n͔̤̤̩̫̲͇̱̎̽̌̓̂̔̏͂g̥͉̗͍̟̣̯̣̥͊̈́͊̑̇̍͆̓̚ͅ?̥̪̣̳̋͂̔͑͒̆”

The girl with short black hair shifted further away, moving into the corner of the room, her bag held up in her hands, her eyes wide as saucers. She looked at Ventus like he was a wild animal.

“He’s been taken to the hospital,” the teacher said. The old man’s lips thinned. For a short second, he turned his gaze from Ventus to pierce Mr. Luxord. The teacher held up his hands. “I’d heard you’d been called, but that you hadn’t answered?”

“I was in a meeting. It lasted through the morning.”

Ventus breathed. What… was happening? He felt like his skin was ten inches thick. The world felt like it was shifting further and further away from him. He reached up and rubbed his temple.

“If he’s able,” the old man said, suddenly locking Ven in place with nothing but another look, “then he will come home with me. O̥̟̲̥̤̲̲̙͔̾̒͒͐̿͆͂́͌̉n̦̗̠̰̰̠̭͔͗̅́̿̒̍l̤̜̙͔͚͓̠̳̗̖̓̾͛͐ͅy̠͙̗͔̍̓̓͌́̀̚ t̝̬̭͙̘̠̙̬͚̟̪̏͑͌̑h̰̯͖͕͂̓̓̄̄̀͋ê̫̠͚̦͚̜̭̞̤̗̤̭͛̓́̀̈n̪̝͙̟̤͖̰̟̄͌͐͊̀͂̓̚ w̭̩͚͖̬͉̜̳̝͕̰̝͍͎͑̔͆̿̑͗i̗̘̥̟̫̪̲̣͓̗͎͍͕̠̠͆̐̂̐̐͌̑̍͐͊̈́̑l͈̦̪̠̲̝̠͉͎̤͍̪̈̾̽͑͋͊́͒̂͊͆̆͐l̪͈̜͇̣̒͐͑͊̅̀̓̓̑͂ h͉̤͈̩̣̤̥̗̬̰̣̘͚̜͂̔̿͗̔̿͛̃e͈̖͔̜̍͌̃̍̈́ b͍͖̯͙̰̝̈̆̔̓̋̽͐͂͒́͂͐e͉̝̮̦̭̜̳̭͍͗͂͊̔́͗̽̒̉̐̃́͌̈ͅ f̜̲̝̦̝͙̣͖̳̘͚̬̬̬̯͖̖̝̲͉͛̒͌̌̓̒̉̄̆̚̚̚o͓͕̰̤̭̟̦͕͙̣̦͔̳̥͉̜̗̱͍͖̅̐̈́̔̾̉͋̑͌̊̀͛͆͊͂̓͋̾̍̾r̯̞̠̤̘̟̘̘̮͔̱̟̜̱͕̋͆̑̾̾̃̎̏̃̍̈ͅͅg̟̰͇̮͖̜̘̣͎̜͇͕̟̘̯̦͓͇͒͂̀͊̾̈́̽͂̃̌̆͌̎͂̍͋̌̓ͅͅị̪͎̳͖̫̲̩͎̟̝̰͈̟̞̜͔̂͒̊͐͆̋̅͂̑̽͗̍͗͑ͅv̪̩̠͇̣̮̣͔͙̳̘͇̟̰̯͖̣̭́͒͆̈́̊́̇̋̽̒͐̇̽͌̈̒̏͌͌̾̊̔̋ͅͅe͔̫̟̪̫̬̯̙̰͖̟̪̣͉͈̯̞̯̔͗̎͋͊̈̇͒̅̾͐͂̚̚n̯̭̬͙̮̣͚̰̰̗͕̜̳̝͖̮̮̜̝͚͖̐͌͑̃͂̔̏̎̓̅̈̒͛͂͑͗̚ͅ for not telling me of his condition.”

Ven stood up straight. The girl in the corner hissed, but he didn’t look and she didn’t move. “Okay?” Mr. Luxord said, but the old man was already walking away.

“If you’ll excuse me, I must tend to my ward.”

“Of course,” Mr. Luxord said. Ven trailed between the desks, his gaze on the retreating figure as it left the room. “Ventus. You’re leaving your things.” Ven turned at the front of the room and made his way to the door. The hunched figure of the old man continued down the hall. He followed after. “Ventus!”

“I’ll get them.” The words were softly spoken and didn’t matter. Ven let them float away.

The old man stopped just at the end of the hall, right as it opened up into the lobby. Ven came abreast of him. As soon as he did, the old man started walking again. Ven followed. “Hurry up, boy!” the old man said, his pace quickening slightly. “We need to get you out of here before someone decides to start paying attention.”

They passed the lockers. Ven didn’t stop to change out his shoes. Someone called out to him about it. He didn’t answer.

“Damn Eraqus,” the old man said. He pushed the front door open and hurried through. Ventus had to stop for a moment; the door slammed nearly in his face, and it took several seconds for him to remember how to open it. When he did, the old man was glaring at him. “Faster!” He hurried. “I had everything I needed. All that was left was waiting for the heat to die down, for people to stop watching. Now he’s started it all up a second time. And what if he squirrels you away from me? I don’t have time to wait all over again, nor the patience to play Eraqus’ game.”

The words washed over Ven. They didn’t carry any weight. They weren’t important.

The old man headed to the parking lot, and Ven followed. There were voices all around him – students shouting to one another across the lot, others revving their engines as they talked about the day. The noise rang and rattled in his ears. He didn’t know why.

He thought he heard his name.

The old man hesitated for a moment, then continued walking. “Of course. Eraqus’ brats.” He lowered his voice. “Of all the children for him to take in, it had to be you. I should have known. My efforts to find you left me only your fool brother. Any chance of using him to get to you died the instant I learned he had taken you in.” The old man stopped moving. Ven did, too. They stood beside an old car. White, long. The old man turned and looked at him, then behind him. “There isn’t much time. Get inside.” The words didn’t hold any weight. He ignored them. The old man frowned. “Get in!”

Ven didn’t move.

“I should have known. If I’d had more time with you, you would follow my every command.” The old man looked beyond Ven and snarled. “My perfect c̢̖̣̖͚̙o̱̖͜n̢͇̦t̤̳͜ą̝̗͖͔i̙̗͔͢ņ͔̫̣̳ę̥͍̗͙r͇̣̝̮͜ͅ.” With one gloved hand, he reached out and touched Ven’s cheek, rubbing roughly over the bruise there. He didn’t wince. He didn’t feel anything. “Ǫ͙̱̠̝v̡̥̜̰̤͎e͓̬̣͢r̢̮͉r̙̲͢i̧͖̥̰͓d̡͔͇̱̤̗e̢̖͓͕̝ C̨̮̰o̢̗̩͎̭ḓ̢̲͇ę̪͓̠:̨͓̗̳ P̜̱̮̥͍̟͢r̨͇͕͙̩̫̙̮̖ͅǫ̳̝̗̙̝̘͙̤j̡̦̦̫̣͙͖̝͚͈̟ę̙̝̘̥̳͓̗͚ͅͅc̡̲̞̝̬̗̫̜ţ̠̝̬͚͈͎͈̱̲̠ͅͅ K̗͙̦̩̟̞͎̪̫͔͢ͅį̱̣̩̱n̢̠͔̰̜ͅͅg̥̯̙͇͎͎̯̗̪͢ͅd͙̥̗͇̫͙͕̞͢o͍͙̲̯̳͜ͅm̧̟̮̫̯ o̤̥͚̞̤̤̪̯̲͢f̗̠͉̥̲̭͇͎̬̗̠͢ H̨̫͈̟̠̝̖͇̰e̡͇̖̘͉͕͔a̧̱͚̗͙̩̬͔̩̫̫r̨̬͖̱͍̰͖͍̗̤̙̲t̗̭̟͈͔͚͇͇̲͙͢ͅs̜͓̖̞̮͜.̢͎͍̬͓̫ U͙̦̲̤̞̪̱͈̓̉͒̿̈́̒̅̚ñ̲̣͓̦̲̲̦̪̰͈̖̇̾̆̔̏͊̾͐̍ͅl̗̤͖̦̬͆̃͗́̏̄o̤̯̮͕̙͊̿̄͒̈̋̾͒̂͗c̳̦̗͚̥̮̗̮͓̳̐͊͑̑͌͐ǩ̥̟͇̜̾͋͊́ t̳͉͈͕͐̄͐̇ḧ̤̘̮̤́͐͒͂̿e̖̥͖̝̩̙͈̬͕͂͗͛̈̀̈͆͗͂̚ f̯͈̪̲̜̙̟̙̣̯̞̄͊̅̅̓͊̎̑̀̚̚ḭ̣̟̪̜͓̠͖͎̞̅̔͆̑̉̂̈̅̍̏ṟ̱̮̙͇͍͕̈̒̿̏͆̄̑̆̈͊̎ͅͅs͕̠̜̥̬̪̦̞͓̟̦̏̾̏͊͐ṯ̰̳͍͇̰̯̞̮̪͋͋͆̌͛̌ k̰̱̩̭̬̳͍̀͌̄̂͋̊̓̑̈́͒̈́̾ē͖͈̗̪̂̑́̎̅͐̈́̿̿̿̚y͍̮̗͓̦̥͚͕͋͐̋̈́͌̿̋͐̿́͂:͍̣͓̳̅̿̎̏́̾͑̔̎͋̿ͅ remember that which you have hidden.”

Ven’s brain exploded. As if someone had lit a match, only to find everything covered in kerosene. His mouth opened as if to scream, but no sound emerged.

The old man smiled. It did not reach his eyes. “Good. You’ve retained every single one of your triggers. I knew you would. You always were the perfect specimen.”

Information flickered through the back of his mind in a lightning-fast scroll. Names, dates, words. He knew what it all was. He’d been forced once to memorize it, long ago. Before he’d been made to forget.

“Ü̦̖͙͚̘̳̲̃̃n͎̘̙̭̖̲̳̙̍̃̓͑ͅl͚̪͉͓̮̮̥̟̆͗̿̊͒̐̚o͕̤̜̮̱̘͕̮̜̟̘̲͊̋̇̇́ċ̰͈̟̗̯̳̞͈͋̅͒͂k̜͈̟͉̱͙̟̏̆̔̑ t̮̯̩̯̯̱͛͂́͑̅̄̉͒̈͐͆h̤͙͉̲̒͊̂͆̂̈̐̈ẹ͎̲̜͇͖͖̫̒̐́̾̓̂̑͋̽̒̉̏ s͎̪̙̞͕͎̬̪̳͖̍̒̿̂̚ͅe̥̗̫̝̖͕̳̦̿̏͋͆͐̅͋̉̿̿̇̀c̘̘̣̰̮͙̟͔̮͈̤̮̈̎͒̃͛̅̈́̄o̖͈̯̬̘͈̭̗̬̟͖͋̓̈͆͒̍͑͗̋ͅn͉͈͈͓͕͍̤̫͖̯̖̿̿̓̉ͅd͙̰̞̗͍͍̠̳̈́̾̂̚ k͍͍͚̝͙͋̅͒̓͒̏̋͌͛́͆e͔̦͍͉̟͓̘̐̎́̉͗̆̈̋̽ÿ͍͔͍̪̩͒̾͛̔̅̉͗:̙̯͕̪̱͉̮̟̳̝̱͖̔̌͗͊ release the location of the physical documents.”

Ven’s mouth moved. “Research notes containing lost data on reconfiguring hearts is located on the edge of Hudson Lane, behind the last house on the left. Marked behind the shed with the word ‘Princess.’ Buried beside the body of a dead cat.”

“Good job. It’s a shame to lose you, but…”

He heard his name again. The voice was deep. Not like the old man’s, but also important.

The old man grimaced. He unlocked the door to the car. With one foot in, the old man turned back to him. Hands gathered around him; a pair of thin arms clutched his shoulders. Someone grabbed him around his collarbone and dragged him back. “Xehanort!” that deep voice snarled next to his ear. “What did you do to him?”

“Do?” The old man kept looking at him. “Nothing. Yet.”

“Xehanort!” That someone shifted behind him until warm hands clapped over his ears. Still, he listened.

“B̰͓͇̫̳͍̠̿͒̽̂̎̓̌e̝̰̪͙̬̯̦͉͙̣̣͛̉́̒̚g̮̟̩̮̉͂̈̂̃̃͂͌̿͗i̭̝̝̥̖̞͇̟͛̒̒̓̽̐͊̇̚̚ň͈͙̪̩͎͔̦͓̣̾̈́̃̌̾̑̃̀̑͋ P̖̙̬̮̘̰͓͎̍̎̾͛̀̆̋ê̯̙͙̭̖̬̪̪̝̤̫̳͇̗̩̏͗͆̏͊̌̃̀̒̇̄̾̌͗̚ŕ̜̲̬̫̜̘͚̳͍̥͓̮͉͚̫̌͗͆̄͂̉̅̽͑̊̋̌̇͂ͅs̱̞̫̝͔̩͔͔̪̮͈͚̍͋̎̔͊̓̌͆̅̀͊̍̚̚o̗̤̰̜̜̱̤̙͕̲͆̋͋̒̓̃͐̋́́̊͗͑ͅn̳͖͚͉̥̦͙͕͖͉̮̯͍͍͈̍̉̈̋̆́̎͛͑̅̓̚a̖̬̭̰͚͔̤͈̳̳̱̽̆̋̂͋̂̏́͐̑̽̌̓̾̆̍l̳͚̣͎̩͚̟̟̰̣̝̳̪̞̆͒̋̔̇̓̃̃i͎̩͇̜̙̖̝̰̮͖̜͈̫̎͐̋̑͒̀̆͆̚ẗ̩̱͎̰̫̰̩̗̙̠͊͌̍̇̈́̈́̍̐̉̿̃̚̚y̠͖͈̦͔͉̬̠̠̠̦͋̈͛̔̾̃̔͋̈̒̄̄̄̚ P̳̜̦͖̞̣͓͉̫͓̞̭͚̝͒͋̇͑̽̾͂̅͑̏͒͗u̝͓͓͍͉̗͖̤̩͔̲̗̦̰̯̾̈́̈́̑̈́̓̃̏͆͐́͒̓́̇r̙͙͓̝͍͙͓̜̟̲͓̫̞̭̙̒̾̀̄͊̈̀̄̓̀̂g̖͕͓͕̰̳̩̥̑͒̆̅̆̅̉̂̿̂͌e̫͉̲͉͈̲͉̣͙̳͍̤̩̝̽̀̑̍̾͗͌̌̽͒̽̒̐͛͐ͅ.̘̳͕͕̤̣͈͍̥͍̯̲̯̳̜͉̉̂̉̇͋̇͗̒̊͋̂̍̔͆̈”

He did as ordered.

* * *

They’d let their guard down.

After repeated checks had shown that the boy who knew about Ven’s conditioning had never gone to class, Terra had relaxed enough to walk with Zack out of his classroom and let the guy go with him to meet up with Aqua. Zack had barely begun flirting with her before the door had slammed open.

Standing there had been the short girl who had sat with Vanitas that morning, the girl Ven had said was the one who had helped him out before. She carried two bags to her chest, making her look like she was juggling briefcases. She grabbed one of them and held it out. “Ven’s been taken,” she said.

“Wait – your adopted brother?” Zack asked.

Terra couldn’t answer. He was already running.

“Where?” he barked. The girl ran with him. From behind, he heard Aqua apologize to Zack and follow after him. Zack, being Zack, followed, as well.

“Out of the room, toward the front entrance,” she said. Just as they’d thought – avoiding the doors with alarms. “It’s not Vanitas,” she gasped. “It’s him. It’s _him.”_

Terra’s blood chilled to ice. “Aqua,” he hissed.

“On it!”

Aqua, always faster than him, ran around him and yelled at the students still lingering on the stairs to move it. The title of student council president held weight; everyone moved, even the two boys with wild hair who initially sent rebellious stares her way.

She did the same down the hall, still managing to stay a few steps ahead of him. The hall to the lobby was jam-packed, however, and she lost all ground. Terra snarled. “Everyone _move!”_

The young girl followed, as well, though she was quickly bogged down by the bags in her hands. She instead chose to hug the wall as Terra passed, then follow after his bulkier form.

“I got this, Terra! Keep going!” Zack waved him forward, then hurried to the first student in the way and physically moved them. They shrieked. “Get out of the way! Medical emergency!”

The words were a bold-faced lie, but they worked. People moved. The black-haired girl helped Zack, waving the two bags in her hands like flags until people started backing away. Aqua slipped through first, maneuvering her body like the dancer she was. Terra was second, slower, his heart pounding harder and harder against his ribcage with every step. They still hadn’t reached Ven, and they were at the entrance. Where was he? Were they too late?

He found Aqua outside, her hand over her eyes as she scanned the lot. “There!” She pointed. “There he is!”

Terra looked. Ven was walking quickly past the rows of cars, his gaze on the man in front of him – a hunched figure with dark skin. He snarled. “Xehanort.” He raised his voice. “Ven!”

He didn’t answer. Terra’s heart stopped beating. Xehanort had to have used those words on Ven. Even now, he could hear Ven screaming in sudden panic, holding on to Terra’s hand so tightly his nails dug lines into Terra’s skin as he shouted that he didn’t want to lose him. Ven didn’t want to forget him.

Both Ven and Xehanort stopped by a car. Ven looked at Xehanort, seemingly enraptured with whatever he was saying. Even from this distance, he could see the lax muscles of Ven’s shoulders and the dead stare of his eyes. He screamed Ven’s name again, nearly shoving two people out of his way as he moved. Aqua sprinted past him, dodging between two groups of loitering students while Terra had to push them out of his way. He ignored their agitation, his gaze trapped on Ven as… as his lips moved. As he spoke to Xehanort.

That had never happened before. Ven had never spoken to them when his eyes had been like that. What was happening?

Aqua reached Ven just as Xehanort turned to his car. She grabbed Ven’s shoulders from behind and tried to pull him back, but Ven didn’t move. Terra arrived two heartbeats later and used brute force to drag Ven away, terrified that he might make a break for the passenger door. Xehanort stared down at Ven, his yellow eyes nearly demonic as he took in Ven’s empty gaze.

Terra shook Ven lightly, unsurprised when he didn’t respond. He glared up at the old man. “Xehanort! What did you do to him?”

“Do?” Xehanort grinned. “Nothing. Yet.”

“Xehanort!” Aqua snapped.

Terra’s blood seized. He clapped his hands over Ven’s ears, even knowing it wouldn’t be enough. “Begin personality purge.”

Terra’s blood drained from his face. Xehanort slipped into his car and closed the door. Ven didn’t move. There was no difference in him that Terra could see. But he knew. He _knew_. There was no way those words hadn’t been an order.

“Ven.”

“Terra, look out!” Aqua yanked at him. He looked over and nearly stumbled back. Xehanort floored the gas, nearly running over the two of them as he left the parking lot. Aqua shouted a few choice words at the retreating car, but Terra’s attention had already turned back to Ven.

He hadn’t reacted to nearly getting mowed over. He didn’t even blink as Terra took his face in his hands. “Ven. Ven!” He couldn’t help it. He shook Ven again. It didn’t do anything.

Personality purge? What did that mean? Just how much was Ven losing?

“ _I don’t want to lose you! I don’t want to forget!”_

“ _Well, we’ll just have to show him that, won’t we?”_

Show him. _Show him_.

He hugged Ven. Aqua moved. He looked up to see her stand. “I’ll get the car,” she said. He couldn’t imagine what that would do them; Master Eraqus couldn’t know how to save Ven. “Keep talking to him. Do whatever you have to.” She touched his shoulder. “I believe he’ll react to you more than me. Give him everything you have, Terra.”

His eyes widened. She ran off.

Ven. “Ven. I’m here.” He held Ven tight to his chest. Ven’s breaths became slowly shorter, breathier. He could feel Ven slipping away. “I’m here. Come on, Ven. Please.” He pulled away and looked at Ven’s face. Nothing. How long? How long did this last? Was this going to be Ven from now on? This dead husk?

No. No, please. No.

“Ven, baby.” He rubbed Ven’s cheeks, his jaw. The bruise was still very visible from when he’d been hit by Vanitas. He kissed it again, his heart in his throat. It might have been his imagination, but he thought he saw a flicker in those eyes when he pulled back again. “Ven?”

Nothing. He gritted his teeth. He’d pulled back the instant he’d done this before. He’d hidden his feelings back in their box and pretended they weren’t anything more than familial love, because that was what they were supposed to be. Family, and supportive, and – he put his forehead on Ven’s. “Please. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say. Come back. End protocol. Ignore orders. Cancel that. Anything! Ven, baby, please!”

Nothing. Nothing! He choked back tears. This couldn’t be happening. Xehanort couldn’t have erased everything Ven was so easily. There was so much life to him. So much kindness and soft rebellion and _light_. He couldn’t be lost. All of that couldn’t have been _purged_.

“ _I believe he’ll react to you more than me. Give him everything you have, Terra.”_

Why him more than her? Why did she think that? Was it because Ven always seemed to react to him whenever he fell into those moments when he seemed to be slipping away? He’d been thrilled, in a sick way, to know that it was _him_ Ven relied on to pull him back, _him_ Ven reacted instinctively to. It hadn’t been right, but some horrible part of him had been pleased. He’d wanted to be special to Ven in some way, just as Ven was special to him.

What if… what if he _was_ special to Ven, in the same way Ven was special to him? The thought thundered in the back of his mind, along with the horrible, burrowing thought that followed it: _and he was gone_. Ven was gone. Just three simple words, and they’d torn Ven from him before he could work up the courage to really _try_.

He wanted to take it back. Take back the past day and a half while he pretended it was a normal, brotherly act to kiss the other’s cheek. He wanted to take back the past five minutes, when he’d gone to Aqua’s room instead of heading straight down to Ven like he should have. He wanted to take back the last thirty seconds, somehow punched Xehanort in the face before he’d gotten the chance to talk, or – or–

“Come back to me, Ven,” he whispered. “Please. I don’t know what to do.” He felt stupid, and awkward, and ridiculous, but he tilted his head and kissed Ven’s lips. “I love you.”

He pulled back. Nothing. He’d hoped, foolishly, believing in every ridiculous children’s movie, that such a thing could perform miracles. But Ven was still empty and vacuous and now there were people starting to come closer, several of them making loud, disparaging noises over what Terra had just done. He ignored them all. It was only Ven’s opinion that mattered, and Ven didn’t seem to have any anymore.

His eyes burned. He felt a tear track down his face and lowered his head. His fingers slid from Ven’s cheeks. His shoulders hitched. Whatever Xehanort had done, Ven was gone.

Aqua blared her horn at the students clustering around them. A few people laughed and ignored her, but out of the blue, Zack came racing forward, shooing them away and yelling at them for not respecting Aqua. It left him relatively in peace.

He touched Ven’s head. He didn’t move. He didn’t blink. If it weren’t for the fact that Ven stood under his own willpower, Terra would have thought him dead. “Ven. I’m so sorry.”

Aqua pulled to a stop in front of him, threw the car into park, and jumped back out. “Terra!”

He looked up at her. She stopped. Her eyes widened. “No.”

“I tried. I tried, but I…” He looked away. His fists clenched. Tears ran down his cheeks to his lips. He could still feel the weight of Ven’s lips on his, the pliant, unmoving touch. He wanted to scrub it off.

“Terra.”

The sound was barely a whisper, barely a breath. He opened his eyes.

“Terra.”

Ven’s eyes remained dead and empty and still, but slowly, one hand raised up to his cheek. Those small fingers touched the track of his tears. Those lips pulled into a soft frown. “Terra…”

“Ven. Ven, baby, are you there? Are you with me?” He grabbed Ven’s cheeks again, careful of the bruise, and leaned in close. Aqua ran to them and fell to her knees, clutching Ven’s shoulders. “I’m right here. Can you hear me?”

Ven blinked. It brought no focus to his eyes, and yet it was such a welcome sight it made Terra huff as if in relief. That small thumb slid along Terra’s cheekbone, caressing the wetness of his tears into his skin. “Don’t… cry.”

He did. He did, even more, hearing Ven talking to him. The frown on Ven’s face deepened. It was beautiful. “Do you remember me? Aqua?”

Ven blinked again. And again. His face scrunched. He reached up with his free hand and touched his temple. “Ow…”

Terra reached up and rubbed at the place Ven grabbed. Ven leaned into his hand and sighed. “Can you remember us?”

Ven’s brows furrowed. Something like life came to those eyes. “I… yeah. It’s like…” He winced again. Terra made a cooing noise. “I remember, like from a fog.” Ven jerked. He grabbed Terra’s arm. “I remember. I remember! Terra! There are files on what Xehanort did to us. Actual files, and a flash drive!”

Terra frowned. “What?”

Ven tugged on his arm. He looked around, taking in where they were, his brows scrunching for several moments before he caught the sight of Aqua’s car just behind them and moved toward it. “There are files! He made me – I remembered them. All that time ago, he ordered me to hide his files for him. From my parents, so they wouldn’t have any evidence but their say-so that it was him.”

“He what?” Aqua held up a hand. “Wait. Into the car. Both of you, in the back. Ven, grab your phone and call Master Eraqus. Tell him everything. Terra, you call the cops. Everyone, get out of our way, please! Ven needs emergency attention!”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” one student cat-called, “after that kiss.”

Ven looked between Terra and Aqua with furrowed brows.

Aqua wasted no time leaving the school grounds; after he and Ven had completed their respective calls, Ven gave her instructions to get to whatever Xehanort was after. Aqua’s response, however, was adamant. “The cops will handle that, Ven. Right now, you come first.”

Ven frowned as if he didn’t understand. “But this could help us!”

“Maybe,” Terra said. Ven looked at him. “But that doesn’t matter. We almost lost you.” Terra looked up toward the rearview mirror. He wasn’t surprised to see Aqua looking at him through it. “Are you angry with me?” he asked her.

She snorted. “No. Master Eraqus might grill you twelve ways to Sunday, but he’ll understand, too. And I think Roxas already knows, though I’m sure he’ll make you work for it, as well.”

Terra winced. He didn’t want to think about that. Master Eraqus might leave him black and blue on the floor of the dojo, but Roxas might leave a bomb in his bed just to make sure he didn’t take Ven to it. As if he would! Ven was still far too young, and he didn’t know that he was ready for that level in a relationship, anyway…

He flushed. Ven did that head tilt thing of his, like he was a puppy. “Terra?”

Okay. He needed to just do this. His heart started hammering in his chest. Such a ridiculous response! He’d nearly lost Ven. If he remembered that – if he remembered how terrified and hopeless he’d felt just minutes before – then, even though his heart still pounded, the fear of rejection gave way to a far deeper fear. It nearly left him calm. This was the only road he could accept after what he’d just gone through. A difficult path was easier to walk when he knew there was no other to choose. “Ven. I should have just told you.”

“What?” Ven shifted in his seat; the seatbelt slid into his shoulder and along the side of his neck. Terra leaned over and folded it a bit, until it was no longer cutting into Ven’s skin. Ven flushed beet red. Terra smiled at the sight; it was real, and alive, and far more _Ven_ than anything else. That was what finally calmed his racing heart: the sight of Ven being Ven.

“First and foremost, you are my family, and I want you to be family no matter what.”

Ven’s eyes widened. His mouth opened and shut like a fish. Not the best start, but all right.

Aqua sighed at him.

“Right.” He reached out. Despite how odd Terra was acting, Ven readily took both of his hands in his. Those red cheeks burst into greater flame. It nearly hid the bruise on Ven’s cheek. “I consider you family, but I don’t think of you as one would a brother.” Ven’s hands spasmed in his. He grabbed tight, then forced himself to let go. Just a bit. “I care for you more than that.”

Ven stared. And stared. And said nothing.

Aqua groaned. “He’s saying he loves you, Ven.”

Terra opened his mouth to rebuke her for stating the obvious when Ven sent that wide-eyed gaze her way. “He is?”

She stopped the car at a red light and looked over her shoulder at the two of them. “I know he’s inept at it, but yes. He is.”

Ven turned back to him. “Oh,” he said, his voice turning into a squeak. That was it. _Oh._

Terra’s heart sank.

Aqua turned right back around, even as the light turned green. “Ven’s trying to say he loves you back.”

Right. He couldn’t help the cynical twist to his lips, any more than he could see the way the sight of it made Ven flinch. “No, he isn’t.”

Ven lurched forward, so suddenly his seatbelt locked. He struggled until it gave way again, only to bring Terra’s hand up to his chest, just over his heart. “Yes,” he declared, “I am.”

“Oh,” Terra said. They beamed at each other.

“Dear god,” Aqua muttered.

The moment was made even better when Master Eraqus called Terra’s cell. He was with Roxas and Vanitas in the hospital – Roxas was fine, but Vanitas had some bruised ribs – to tell them that Xehanort had been stopped at the entrance to his house by cops coming to question him about Vanitas’ injuries. They hadn’t found any paperwork on Xehanort, but they had found, in his pocket, a single memory card. Upon Ven’s and Terra’s reports, it had been taken into evidence and Xehanort brought in for questioning on the charges of attempted kidnapping.

Terra ended the call and whooped. He grabbed the back of Ven’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. Ven squeaked, long and high and loud, and threw his arms around Terra’s neck. He returned the kiss sloppily, messily, and so poorly Terra had to press Ven’s cheeks until his lips pursed properly, but it was enthusiastic, and too amazing for Terra to mind.


	6. A Completely Abnormal, Freakish, And Absolutely Extraordinary Lifeo

“Where’s your homework?”

Vanitas shrugged Roxas off his shoulder as Ven’s twin pounced on him, wrapping his arms around Vanitas’ neck. “Why would I do my homework? I’m not doing more schoolwork once I’m out of class.”

“You’re gonna be in the dojo all night again,” Roxas said with a laugh.

The two had gotten along swimmingly after they’d come home that night two months ago with Master Eraqus. Roxas might have stuck to Ven’s side that night, grilling him on everything, trying to make sure Ven hadn’t permanently lost any memories, but it was next to Vanitas that he’d sat. And Vanitas, in turn, had taken a shine to Roxas that he hadn’t with the rest of them, despite now living with them, as well.

“More video games for me, then,” Xion said, popping out of Aqua’s car. Her words started an immediate grousing session from Vanitas.

Ven watched it all from the passenger seat of Terra’s car – a necessity with all of the others joining their family. He turned to smile at Terra. “You’re only a few months from graduating.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Ven.” Terra reached out and ruffled his hair.

They’d already talked about graduation. It was looming before them, just as the court case for Xehanort. Master Eraqus was leading the charge there; the man had made it his personal mission to take down his former friend and colleague. Ven would have to go in as a witness, as would they all. All of them had been affected by Xehanort’s manipulations in some way. But that trial wasn’t until the summer, and before that, there were other, more _normal_ concerns.

“I’m gonna miss coming to school with you,” Ven said, thinking of one of those concerns now. Terra chuckled.

“I’ll still be at home. I’ll still even drive you to school, if my classes don’t get in the way.” Terra unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over until their faces were inches apart. “We have the rest of our lives. Time lost before and after class isn’t going to break us.”

Ven grinned. He breached that last distance and took Terra’s lips with his, wrapped his arms around Terra, and altogether forgot where they were until Roxas rapped on Ven’s window and shouted, “stop sucking face!” in the middle of the school parking lot.

They both pulled away, faces tomato red. Vanitas cackled at Roxas’ side. The two high-fived each other.

They both left the car, quickly coming around to hold each others’ hands. Aqua and Xion huddled near each other as they all made to head to the school; Xion’s excited hand motions had to mean they were discussing a book or a movie. Roxas, meanwhile, seemed to be promising to beat Vanitas’ newest high score in something, because Vanitas was giving him his usual cocky, disparaging grin. Roxas reacted predictably, trying to turn his hug into a tackle. Vanitas shoved him off and raced ahead, only to turn and mock Roxas for being slow. Roxas flipped Vanitas the bird.

Ven covered his mouth as he laughed. He looked at them all. Master Eraqus, Vanitas, Xion, Roxas, Aqua. Terra. He loved them all differently. A rival, a younger sister, a twin with a personality opposite his. An overprotective sister, a stern parent who preferred to let expectations govern them all. Someone too important to be given a name so banal as brother or boyfriend.

Terra squeezed his hand, catching his attention. A simple quirk of that smile told Ven the question he was asking. “I was just thinking,” Ven said. He gestured out as if to encompass them all. One by one, everyone turned to look at him. “I never would have thought we’d all get together like this. Maybe, to others, we look really weird.” Vanitas snorted as if to say, ‘no, shit?’ “But, to me, we’re perfect. And I might love all of you differently than the others, but never less. Isn’t that amazing? That love can take so many forms?”

Terra leaned down and kissed his forehead. He closed his eyes and let the sensation sink into his skin. “That’s called family, Ven.”

Ven beamed him a bright grin and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Ugh. This much sap is gonna make me choke.” Vanitas made a gagging noise before turning away. He waved a hand back. “You people are too mushy.”

“Aw, what’s the matter, Vanitas?” Roxas poked Van’s side. “Aren’t you happy we all _love_ you so much?”

“Ugh!”

Xion laughed and went to poke Van’s other side. He scowled at her, but didn’t say anything when she wrapped her hands around his arm. “Love you!” she said.

“Yeah! Love you, Van!”

“Love you!”

“Stop it!”

Ven laughed again. Family. It was an amazing word. An amazing thing.

They were a family.

The first bell rang. Ven smiled. Time for class to begin.


End file.
